我们现在开始来检视一下生命的某些方面，是神带领我们进入、为了要让我们能多结果子和荣耀祂。让我们先来集中讨论一下经济困难的这个问题。

没有人可以否认金钱在我们生活中扮演一个十分重要的角色。超过一个世纪以前，巴尔札克（Balzac）说：「基督门徒的最后争战是为了金钱，在没能解决这个问题前，基督教不能有普及的发展。」很多初信主的人都因为圣经经常谈论金钱而感到很惊讶，不只一个传道人指出，耶稣在地上的时候，金钱是祂谈得最多的课题之一。

对基督徒来说，「金钱问题」有趣的一点是，不管我们是乐意献上还是有所保留，神都能够借此来带领我们走进祂的计划中。你目前是否正在面对经济上的困难？你的银行账户是否每个月都在透支？不要害怕，神也许要借着这些经济上的困难来给你一些宝贵的教导。事实上，没有任何事情比缺乏金钱，或面对财政上的困难时，能够令我们更加愿意注目于神；这是千千万万的基督徒的见证。奇怪的是，当我们的钱包满满的时候，神往往要高声呼叫才能引起我们的注意，但是当我们的钱包空空时，我们却很警觉，很愿意预备好自己来聆听神最微小的声音。

We now start examining some of the areas of life into which we are led by God in order that He might make our lives more fruitful and profitable to Him. First we focus upon the problem of cramped financial circumstances.

No one can deny that money plays an enormous part in our lives. It was Balzac who said more than a century ago: "The final battle for Christian discipleship will be over the money problem: till that is solved there can be no universal application of Christianity." It comes as a great surprise to many new Christians that the Bible talks a good deal about money, and more than one preacher has pointed out that when Jesus was here on earth, this was one of the subjects He talked about most.

One of the most interesting aspects of money to a Christian is that through either the giving or the withholding of it, God is able to steer our lives into the areas in which He wants us involved. Do you find yourself in financial straits at the moment? Does your bank account need month-to-month resuscitation? Then don't panic - God may be allowing this financial stringency in order to teach you some valuable lessons about Himself. Thousands of Christians will testify that God has no more certain way of getting our undivided attention than by withholding money or putting us into tight financial circumstances. How strange that when our pockets are full, often God has to shout to get our attention, but when they are empty, we are alert and ready to hear His faintest whisper.