Being Wise in our Finances - Part 1

What does God have to say about finances in His Word?  We see numerous passages that God is against debt and the Christian shouldn't purposely pursue debt but I understand that certain uncontrollable situations (medical bills), can leave us chained up in debt.  It isn't the time to take a handout or to find ways to not pay back what you owe - it is the time to pray and see the mighty hand of God take care of that debt!

A lot of times, people's financial situations are the result of their own choices.  Let's say that an uncontrollable situation such as a hospitalization occurs to you as it did to me a few years ago.  Let me insert this in here - you SHOULD have had insurance instead of spending your money on fancy cell phones, new cars, etc. but we learned the hard way by being uninsured 4 years ago.  You are left with a $50,000 medical bill.  The hospital tells you about the charity program based on income and they send you the form to fill out.  You can sign that form, which asks for all your expenses (even tithes) and send it in hoping to get it written off telling them (as most of those charity forms state) that you CAN NOT and DO NOT have the money to pay that debt back.  Charity is for those who are really without, not for those who would rather spend their money on other things.  You are giving your word that you can't do it.  Can you honestly say that truthfully?  I couldn't and though it would have seemed the easy road out, I knew in my heart that God wanted us to pay our debts back that we owed.

The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives. ~Psalm 37:21

Then we got to see the mighty hand of God move, got to receive his financial blessings and realized that we made the right choice.  I had gotten another bill and noticed that somehow $24,000 (can't remember exact, could have been $26,000) was missing on the bill.  I called to find out what had happened and the whole medical billing staff was stumped because they said, it was taken off our bill but there was no reason as to why, who did it or what.  But they verified to us, saying we didn't owe it and someone had taken care of it for us!  Talk about a hallelujah breakdown!  Who knows, maybe God did it LOL!  Still to this day, its a mystery but they said it was valid but they don't know who forgave that $24,000.  We continued making the rest of the payments over 4 years and repayed our debt.

What if we had taken the other road and got the handout lying and saying we couldn't pay the debt, when we knew we could have over years of payments?  I believe, as its so commonly seen, that we would have created our own financial disaster because God doesn't bless lying and not repaying your debts.  We wouldn't have gotten to see the hand of God move so miraculously and we wouldn't have LEARNED through discipline of paying a bill over so many years that we never wanted to be in debt again and go without health insurance!!

The above example is just one, but there are other scenarios you can imagine that lead people into their financial ruin as they go against the principles set up by God.  If you pay your tithe, give offerings and follow God's Word in your financial dealings - you will find that the overflowing of blessings never ending!