Trusting God Paid Off!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Several years ago, we had a credit card with a $4000 outstanding balance. (Mostly due to an expensive surgery.) We were appalled and determined to get it paid off as quickly as possible. We cut back on everything. My husband took on extra jobs. I created custom items and sold them online. It was hard work, but we eventually got that card balance down to $400. We had taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and they had encouraged us to cut up our credit card, but I was afraid. What if we needed another surgery? What if our car broke down? What if something happened to a family member in Ohio and I had to fly home suddenly? I held onto the card.

Then several things happened - 3 more surgeries, multiple car breakdowns and family members that needed some help. Suddenly that credit card balance was almost $12,000 dollars! Appalled was not the word for what we felt - more like ashamed and panicked, wondering how in the world we would be able to ever pay this off.  

Then I received a statement that said if we paid $300 a month for the next 3 years, we could pay the card off in that amount of time. We were struggling just to make the minimum payments, so I couldn't imagine how we could afford $300 a month, but I felt God prompting me to trust Him. 

Took a leap of faith, cut the card in half, framed it and hung it on the wall, trusting God to help us make the large payments to pay the card off in 3 years. This week we made the final payment on the card! God came through every month and to our amazement we never needed a credit card even once during that time. Even more amazing, our car did break down, but each time we had the money to pay for it and just about the time we were sick of making repairs to it, we were given a car!. We did face another surgery, but we worked through the hospital to pay off our part without putting it on the card and without interest. I even made several trips to Ohio to help my mom after open heart surgery and just to visit, but I didn't have to pay for the tickets.

Trusting God definitely PAID OFF!

Do you have overwhelming credit card debt? Why not take a leap of faith. Cut the cards up and ask God to help you pay them off. 

Do you have a story of how God helped you out financially in an amazing way? Please share it in the comments. I'd love to celebrate God's goodness with you.

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Don't be anxious about anything!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

My friend is a worrier. In fact she is so good at it, she could be called a professional worrier.  When faced with a difficult situation or a potential problem, she can think of every bad scenario that could possibly happen.

She hears about a disagreement between two people and she imagines them fist fighting, breaking up, divorcing, never speaking to one another again.  She hears about someone who is struggling financially and she can picture them losing everything they own, walking the streets in rags and begging for food. She learns about someone with an illness and she imagines that they have contracted a deadly disease and will surely die.

All this imagining makes her a nervous wreck. She loses sleep, cries over it and is anxious on a regular basis.

The funny thing is that my friend is a believer...or maybe it's not so funny, because as believers, we are supposed to trust God to care for us.  We have been promised that when we pray, God hears us and that we can have what we ask.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."  1 John 5:14:-15  (NIV)

My friend would be so much better off if she would just take a minute to pray, with confidence that God would intercede in each situation as it arises, then relax, knowing that He has heard her prayers and that He is at work in the circumstances. Then she would be filled with the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.

That's much better than worrying and imagining and fretting and losing sleep and...and...(I could go on and on.)

Prayer:
Lord, teach us to turn to you with every concern of our heart. Teach us not to be anxious, but to come confidently to you, knowing that you hear us and that as we ask according to your will, we can be assured that we will have the things we ask of you. Help us to know your will and to examine our prayers so that they line up with your will, then, Lord, help us to relax and trust that you will take care of things. Fill us with your peace. In Jesus' Name, Amen

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(Copyright© 2011 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)