My adult life has largely been financially sufficient, where what I made met my needs and the needs of my loved ones, with a little something left to put away or enjoy the pleasures of life.

Except for two instances.

The first time I had money that surpassed my needs by a significant margin was when I got my second job. I was young, single and vibrant. I loved what I did for a living, and was determined to do it to my level best purely for the joy of it. Unbeknown to me, my employer’s competitor was watching. This competitor happened to have deeper pockets, and one day I get a call from someone the industry knew quite well, who worked for the competitor.

I was flattered to hear from him, and may have changed jobs just to have a chance to work with him. He courted me for a while, and eventually made an offer. I was dumbfounded.

He offered my more than twice my Salary at the time, plus other goodies on top. I had been quite happy working for my then current employer, having been with them for over 3 years, and hadn’t thought of the possibility of changing jobs. Now came the prospect of that much money, and working for an industry leading company, alongside people who were essentially celebrities…how could I say no?

The first month my Salary checked in, I had to keep checking my account balance to confirm the money was still there.

Years later, now married, with Children, and a mortgage and other life costs, that amount felt like a joke. Once again I found myself in a similar situation, with a financial offer from a recruiter, and an amount I had believed was a number of years away and several promotions away.

I took the offer, only this time it mean’t long working hours, stressful assignments, long periods of travel away from my family and navigating complex corporate politics that I had shrewdly steered away from over the course of my career up to then. I had the Money, my family enjoyed the Money, but they didn’t enjoy much of me. When I was around, I was barely present due to fatigue and stress.

This was the first time I found myself asking the question, ‘When does it stop?’. “When is it enough?”, I wondered. My mental health was in tatters, but I wore nice clothes bought from stores in foreign lands. My children were growing faster than I could keep up, but they had all the toys and gizmos they wanted. My wife looked like a million bucks, and wore exotic scents, but I missed her dearly. Was this the cost of financial success? Was it worth it?

Barely a year and a half later, I took a leap of faith and resigned from this dream Job. I was so physically and mentally battered that I took 3 months Sabbatical just to recover, which turned into 6 months. I spent hours in God’s presence, asking him to shine a light upon my path, to show me how to financially care for my loved ones without selling my Soul to the Capitalistic System of the day.

Two of Paul’s letters and one Gospel anchored me during this Season – Phillipians 4, Matthew 6 and 1 Timothy 6. I debunked the lie that my fate was in my hands, that my intelligence and hard work were the core drivers of my success. I unlearned the orthodoxy that the more I made, the better off I was – society affirms this by exalting you the richer and more successful you are. I realigned my hierarchy of needs, upon realising that the things that matter most in life – peace of mind, loving and being loved, being right with God – don’t come at a steep financial cost.

Paul says, contentment with godliness is great gain (profitable). He says that whether in plenty or in lack, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Christ himself called our attention to not worrying ourselves sick about tomorrow, because our Father in heaven knows what we need.

By the Mercy of God, I have been freed from the tyranny of Upward mobility. It has been a painful journey, filled with tears and tough questions and many doubtful moments. I can confidently say it has been worth it.

If I knew then what I know now, when that first grand offer came my way, I’m convinced I would have made a different call, informed by something deeper than how many Zeroes were being added to my Payslip.