Too good for mere money

I watched the movie "Facing the Giants" on Sunday with an enthusiastic crowd from church. There are several quotes that can preach in that movie, and I felt that it had a lot to offer in terms of things to consider. I wanted to start with the part that unsettled me the most, not because I felt the movie was bad, but because that is the part that is disturbing me, and it may have nothing to do with the movie. Without going too much into the film, the main character, a football coach, is struggling in all aspects of his life, his marriage, finances, football team, inability to have children. Everything around him seems to be falling to pieces. Ultimately he decides to give his life up to God and change how he is doing things. Suddenly things fall into place, the football team starts winning, he gets a new truck, a raise, everything seems to be going well. Even when the team is eliminated from the playoffs, fate (God) works in their favor and the team that beat them is disqualified. At the very end of the movie the man has everything, a winning team, a great job, a great marriage, even the children he was told were not medically possible.

This is where I struggle with the movie. The message of the movie is clearly stated, through God, anything and everything is possible. God finds a way to bless this man in all aspects of his life, removing seemingly impossible hurdles to help him succeed and prosper. On the one hand I do not want to try and say that God is not able to do great things, or perhaps even do all things, but I just struggle that the message of the movie is that God will give us what we want if we just have faith. I believe we should have faith, and I believe God will provide for our lives, but I struggle with the way the idea that God will provide in exactly the ways that we want. For me God is too good for mere money. The gifts that God gives us seem to go beyond such a material thing. I know that the Old Testament is filled with signs of God's prosperity, Abraham, Lot, Job, etc, but does this mean that this is the way that God is going to work in all our lives? I don't believe that God is simply there to provide for what we want. I believe that God is meant to challenge us to something more. It seems a little vain to believe that we know what is best for us and that God will provide that for us if we just follow God. Suddenly following God becomes a sound investment on our part, a way to obtain what we want. I think the concern I see in all of this is the idea of a prosperity Gospel, that for those of faith, God will s