Financial Fear or Freedom? (Part 2)

If you missed Part 1, be sure to read that first!

After I came out of that financially devastating situation in my life, and finally felt like I had reached "ground zero", I began to rebuild. Once I was able to make ends meet, I eventually reached a point where I claimed to believe God's promises that He would provide... until I recognized that I truly didn't. I was only speaking the words - my heart wasn't quite there. Every once in awhile, when the money came up short at the end of the month, I would get angry with God and ask Him why He wasn't providing the way He promised.

And then one day it hit me...

If I'm living my life in a way that is beyond the means which He has provided, I'm telling God what He's given me is not enough. And that is a lie. What God gives us is always enough. What we choose to do with what He gives us reveals our heart - either we trust Him or we don't.

I had to really reexamine where my money was going. If I couldn't afford my house payment, there was a good chance His plan might require me to downsize. If I couldn't afford my car payment, there was a good chance He was asking me to trade it in for something a little more modest. If I found I was spending more money at Starbucks every month than I was giving the church, God was probably asking me to take a hard look at my priorities.

If you find yourself struggling financially, my first challenge to you would be to examine where your money is going. When we take the time to examine our financial priorities, God has a way of convicting our hearts. Of revealing to us a certain level of selfishness that today's world would simply see as entitlement. God doesn't promise to provide for our selfish whims - He promises to provide what we need. And He asks us to be content with that.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

-Hebrews 13:5

But I skipped a part of my story. The part where I broke free of all the debt I had accumulated so quickly when I became a single mom. Don't worry - I'll share that part too... but don't be surprised if it doesn't look the way you might expect. Sometimes in an attempt to break free of the chains that bind us, we simply exchange one kind of bondage for another. In doing so, we don't truly attain freedom.