Who Is Responsible For The Financial Provisions Of The Home?

1 Timothy 5:8

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

  

Proverbs 31:10-31

A wife of noble character who can find? she is worth far more than rubies. 

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. 

She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from from afar. 

She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earning she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. 

In her hands she holds the distaff and grasp the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 

She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seats among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Philippians 4:19 says "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Although this passage came as a prayer from Paul to the people of Philippe, it's a big truth in all circumstances, that as long as we remain under the covenant of God and we are legitimate children of God, the Lord God Almighty is responsible for meeting all our needs and even wants and all we ever desire. He is able to meet those needs and surely will meet them if we remain under His covenant. Psalm 37:4 says "we should delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our hearts." This is also true for the needs of our homes, but the Lord will still use a vessel in meeting these needs as He will not come down from heaven and lay the provisions of our needs on our laps. By reason of answers to prayers doors of financial increase might open for either the husband or the wife in order to meet up with the financial needs of the home. 

The focus of this post is have an understanding into whether it is the man or the woman that God will use as a vessel in meeting the needs of the home according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. In many cultures or traditions it is assumed that the man has been delegated by God as the one solely responsible for the financial provisions of the home. Well in this regard the belief of these cultures are not wrong, it is a man's responsibility to provide for his family, most especially his immediate family as Paul has stated in 1 Timothy 5:8. A man who fails in this responsibility and does so intentional is regarded not as a believer in the Lord Jesus, but as an unbeliever and should be treated as such.

But in the home the man is not the only vessel whom the Lord can and will use to meet the needs of the home. The wife and mother of the home is also a handy vessel in God's hands for this purpose. The wife and her ability to provide financially for the needs of the home is put to test when the husband and head of the home is financially down or broke and the wife is too step in and fill the gap. Thus Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up." The fall is not the literal falling, but this fall comes in various dimensions. It comes in form of sin, moral standard, financial fall and many other falls, and so the Bible says when such a fall happens his friend, not his mother or sister or father or brother will help him, but that his friend whom the Lord has placed in his life as a suitable help ahead of those falls will help him up when he falls.  

And here comes the role of a virtuous wife whom the Lord has groomed and placed in the life of his man ahead of the many falls he may encounter in life. Proverbs 31:10-31 tells us so much about the virtues of a wife of noble character, but for the purpose of this post I will just want to consider those virtues that relates to providing for her family. 

For many women, they carry on the thought that it's not their responsibility to provide for the needs of the home even when they have the resources to spare. Through what the Bible shows us in Proverbs 31:10-31 we can conclude that these women have not passed the test of a wife of noble character. It's the responsibility of the husband to provide for the home, but it's your responsibility as his suitable help to financial help and support your husband when the need arises. That is why the Lord permitted you to be his wife and suitable help. 

Solomon says a wife of noble character is a woman whom her husband has full confidence in and lacks nothing of value, because she brings him good all the days of her life. She is the pride of her husband. For me this lines are very deep and needs us as women to consider it well. It appears as though the Lord will assess us through the ratings of our husband. Heaven will adjudge us noble or not based on how much good we have been able to bring to our husbands' lives, all the days of our lives. 

Some other things that categorizes us as women or wives of noble character is how much we are able to take care of our families even with our own income and resources. A wife of noble character considers a field and buys it and then plants  a vineyard all with her earnings. This she is doing with her earnings. 

The passage also tells that she provides food for her family and portions for her maid servants. She is like a merchant ships bringing her food from her afar. That food which she provides for her family is one brought from afar as a result of her merchandise. From what I am reading in this passage, 60% of what it says show the ability of the wife of noble character to generate income with which to care of her family. This goes along a long way to show that a wife is expected by God to work at earning income to make available financial provisions for the family. She is also just as much a vessel as the man in the hands of God in meeting the needs of the family.

Now if we consider that the man has a responsibility bestowed on him by God to provide for the needs of the family and that the wife of noble character is also a vessel usable by God in making financial provision for the family then the family based on God's purpose should not experience severe lack. If the man and his wife jointly bearing the financial responsibility of the home with the husband as the principal partner and the wife as the suitable help, then even in times of trouble the family is well hidden. 

It is time to start doing the needful, it's time that the man and his wife will start to put the needs of the family ahead of their personal wants and fulfill God's plan for their homes. Then the two will enjoy lasting peace even in financial issues. 

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