The debt free march
The new year seems to always be a catalyst for me thinking about the will of God. On January 1 I'm all about seeking His "Will" (with a capital 'W') for my life, understand the calling and seeing big things happen fast. Fortunately, God is often times ever so silent during my pursuit. This used to confuse me, but I'm starting to see that when God is silent, as often depicted in the Old Testament, it is because His people have not been obedient with the clarity of his voice found in scripture. Whether it be not letting the sun go down on our anger or worshipping self more than the Creator, we too often neglect the audible voice of scripture and lust after a self-prescribed word that is rooted in pride.
...to obey is better than sacrifice
- 1 Samuel 15:22
At the start of 2017, I was wanting to understand God's vision for my family. After a season of praying and reading scripture, I couldn't escape the reality that over the last 6 years, I have lead my family down the winding, snake-like road of debt. Whether it be signing for a $6k loan to repair a roof, a $5.5k loan to restore heating in the house or a $6k loan for a minivan to be able to fit a fourth child– all seem like justifiable reasons to borrow money; after all, it's not like I went to my local Rent-A-Center and bought a $1,500 big screen TV for the Superbowl. At the time, all of these loans seemed reasonable, unavoidable and sacrificial to put my family first. I've now had to rethink my financial mindset as I've been confronted with the topic of money in the Bible.
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
- Proverbs 22:7
As a Christian, it's hard to read a verse like this, be in the financial hole by $10k and call Jesus my Lord. Again, the scriptures say:
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
- Luke 16:13
In light of this, my wife and I are set to see our financial debt eradicated (Lord please help us!). I created this mock-up of a financial app (pictured above) as a time stamp reminder of our debt as of January 1st, 2017. It also includes how much money we budgeted toward the debt each month ($631) and the approximate date of reaching ground zero (June 3, 2018).
It was of no coincidence that in the first month of this game plan, our basement furnace motor burned out and the check engine light went on for our newly purchased, yet very used minivan. After getting both checked out, the recommended fixes added up to an estimated $4,5k!!! I know without a shadow of doubt, that a year ago, I would have simply dumped our savings and probably pulled out a credit card or borrowed money from my parents in order to address these problems. Praise be to God, I'm starting to see these situations in a new light– both as a test of faith and opportunity to obey God by looking for his provision. Sometimes this may look like miracle money dropping out of the sky, but more times than not, it's learning to go without or practice contentment with something that may feel of lesser value. Either way, God will be our supply through it all. I'm thankful and happy to report that we were able to address both these 'emergencies' by the end of the month and get them both fixed for under $300 by seeking out reliable second opinions.
So onward we march to the cadence of a monthly budget– $631 set aside each month to pay off debt. We've got two months down and sixteen more to go.