OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB OF DEBT WE WEAVE

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive! -Sir Walter Scott

Debt is a complicated subject and there is a great deal that could be said about it. Far more than I could begin to say and I'm sure much wiser advise than what I can give. But I would like to share a few little morsels about what I have personally experienced and learned concerning it. In my home, my husband is and always has been the financial caretaker, accountant, lender and for the most part burden barer of and over our finances. While he has always confided in me in all the decision making, I can attest to the fact that he has spared me much concern and relief from the burden of our family’s finances. Whatever my husband and I have, we have only because of the sacrifices and choice that we have made together through the years and God blessing those sacrifices and choices. I,in no way consider myself to be a financial advisor, nor do I consider to have all the answers. But through trial and error and long term hard work, I know what has, and has not worked for my family. I have learned from a good teacher by his choices and sacrifices through the years to be consistent, longsuffering and patient to get the end results of things we would like to have or achieve. I personally view the entire financial debate in one simple word, “Stewardship”! I learned this too from my husband. God’s Word teaches that God is the owner of everything and we are mear mangers and that includes our money. If we properly manage what God gives us, I have seen firsthand blessing. If on the other hand we mis-manage those things, I also know the sting of loss and disappointment as well. While my husband has been a good teacher, I must tell you that I had to trust the Lord first before I ever learned to trust my husband. In trusting the Lord, it gave me a net of security that otherwise, I believe that I would not have had with my husband. That net of security was simply making the decision in my heart, to do things God’s way! After that, trusting my husband became as easy as my trusting the Lord. For in the end….that is what it is all about…..doing your best, and leaving the results to the Lord.

From a biblical perspective incurring debt is never a black and white issue. As a matter of fact there are certain circumstances where debt is almost unavoidable at times. Like for instance, in the purchase of a home or land paying for educations and of course our family’s transportation. While the Bible never says that debt is a sin, unless of course the motive behind it is greed or selfish gain, the Bible does encourage us to avoid debt all together. The reason God discourages debt is because He knows that debt enslaves us in one way or another. One of the best things about God’s Word is, if applied; is that all mankind can benefit from His truths and wisdom. There are many popular misconceptions about the scriptures teaching, on debt. Absolutely nowhere in the Scriptures are we advised or commanded to use debt to accomplish God-given economic goals. On the contrary, the Bible contains many warnings against the use of debt to acquire something. The best way to achieve those goals would be to have a plan, work hard and save for it. However, I have seen some people through the years who get themselves heavily in debt have the impression that God has promised to get them out of their problems and will even use a verse that I have often heard cited in Philippians 4:19: "And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." The promise of course is true, God can and will meet our needs by His vast supply….but note the rest of the verse….according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus…those glorious riches does not mean material riches, but a wealth of wisdom and truth….those are the riches of God in Christ Jesus…... and I have learned firsthand that does not mean, that Jesus has enough money to bail us out of something because He owns it all…especially when we have gotten ourselves into financial trouble by making wrong choices. He hasn't pledged Himself to us, to cancel the consequences of our unwise behavior. He pledges to us to deliver us and make another way of escape, as we walk in obedience with Him. When we disobey and choose to do things our way, we often times will end up needing His help to get out. However, His help always requires, His terms!

Through the years in conversation with friends as well as my personal recollections of doing things the wrong way, it was always easier to get in debt through the use of lenders, for three reasons. First, because we may have been living, “by sight”, trusting in what we can see. It is much easier to visualize a person who is sitting in front of us, and them assuring us, that we can have what we are asking for; with interest of course! Where with God, we will first need to confirm if it is His will for us to have it, and then of course…it’s that dreaded time frame of His that we would have to wait in….recall with me the scripture in James 4:3 that says …. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Well, there ya go… in a nut shell!

The second reason I believe that we find it easier to go to a lender than to God is because we want what we want and it’s not up for debate! So we do not commit it to the Lord…..nor do we even take the time to consider what He may think….we just do it! Psalms 37:5 instructs us to, “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” God will always show us a way….but it is up to us if we go the way He shows.

The third reason is because, of what it says in Luke 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” More often than not, we do not first calculate the outcome or our choices and the wrong choices will always take us further than we wanted to go, keep us in debt longer than we had planned on being in, and the payoff or interest, cost us much more than we end up wanting to pay. Most often we are too quick to let our own will guide us and not God’s will for our lives. I like what Oswald Chambers says about calculating with God’s perspective…. “Haul yourself up a hundred and one times a day in order to do it, until you get into the habit of putting God first and calculating with Him in view.” The jewel in that comment is, “get into the habit”. It’s simply a matter of getting ourselves into a habit of pursuing God’s will in every area of our lives. Do nothing without getting His mind on it first…and then obey what He says to do about it.

 While the Bible may not saying black and white that it's wrong to borrow money, it does however warn us against presuming upon the future: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;' whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" James 4:13-15. By borrowing you may possibly be denying God an opportunity to build up your faith through a particular provision . The Lord has promised to supply all our needs Philippians 4:19, but He never promised us that we could have everything we want. For like children, He knows that some things are not good for us. Some things can even draw our hearts away from Him. That is why we are to seek His will over a matter and know when He does not come through for us on our terms….there must be a good reason! Sometimes borrowing can be unwise because it is just an easy way out of a situation that would otherwise force us to be stretched spiritually to trust God to come through for us. Romans 13:8 encourages us to owe no man anything….why? Because God does not want His children to be in bondage or slavery to nothing or no one. He knows the heaviness of what debt can bring and longs for us to be smart and never undertake on a debt that we can never get out of, short term. We do not sin because we incur debt, we sin when our debt overtakes us and causes us to worry and be fretful and fearful of our future. For you see, those are the very things that trap us and once we get trapped we become a slave to it.

Why is Debt like slavery? If you’ve ever acquired any amount of debt, whether it was a car loan, or credit card balance you couldn’t pay off at the end of the month, you may have felt the burden of slavery. This burden stems from owing money to someone else. That payment is due each month whether you can pay it or not. The heaviness of the burden alone places a ball and chain around our necks holding us captive to that which we cannot get loose. The Bible clearly tells us that we are slaves to the lender when we are in debt. That burden is the slavery of being obligated or in debt to another person. Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender Proverbs 22:7. This is probably the most powerful debt related scripture in the Bible because it puts it into perspective quite well. I would think that for the most part folk that are servants, want to be servants by choice, not because of some debt they owe and are made to be a servant of that debt.

Debt, as with all troubles, can be an opportunity for growth. They are tests of our faith. With the right attitude towards them, we can see them as growing opportunities. Debt is not good. But we can allow it to strengthen our faith and perhaps use our story to help others in the future by overcoming it. I think the important thing to keep in mind is not to be discouraged about being in debt. It would be easy to have a negative attitude. Perhaps it would also be easy to blame someone else, or just the unfortunate situation. But if looking at debt as a trial that can and will be overcome, there is a great opportunity on the other side. God’s word gives that encouragement…Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1: 1-5. When we are obliged to incur debt, there are some important biblical concepts that should govern our borrowing and one of them is, always strive with great effort to pay back any debt incurred as soon as possible. Psalm 37:21 states, "The wicked borrow and do not repay." Here the answer is obvious! One that does not repay their debts, the Bible calls "wicked." Ultimately, a believer has a moral obligation to repay their creditors to the best of their ability.

Oh friend, my heart aches for all of us that have been guilty at times as we have weaved a tangled web of debt, only to find that the desires of our flesh has deceived us into making wrong financial choices. Learning to be a good steward of our money by having a good plan and goal, setting money aside to accomplish those goals and waiting until the money is there, is the very best plan we can have and the best part is; we live in freedom!

Loving on you today,

Bren