Have you ever been on a boat, just floating on a calm lake on a sunny day? Put yourself on that boat.  Think about how peaceful and relaxing that is. You feel the warmth of the sun, and the slight bobbing of the boat after a random boat passes by.  It’s such a wonderful feeling to be out there – forgetting all your troubles and problems. As you drift to sleep, you think, what a perfect day…

Until you are awoken by drops of rain.  You open your eyes and look around.  Since you were sleeping, you have not idea what time it is, but the sky is now dark, with clouds covering the sun, and the wind is getting stronger by the minute.

You rush to gather your things and get the boat headed towards shore. A feeling of panic sets in as the water gets choppy and you hear thunder in the distance. As you race across the water, you are praying that you can make it to the landing before the storm really settles in. And, as you start to slow as you approach the dock, you start to feel a calm come over you as you realize you’re going to make it in time.

How many times have you found yourself in that boat – surrounded by calm waters under a sunny sky.  Then the next thing you know, a full-fledged storm has come from out of nowhere?

That happened to my family very recently.  We were floating along and thinking we were doing alright, when, all of a sudden, we got caught in the middle of a financial hurricane.

Thankfully, we realized it before we (or our possessions) were carried away and had even more problems, but it certainly forced us to take a hard look at some things and figure out where we went wrong.

We were on autopilot

On an airplane, autopilot is a wonderful thing.  There are predefined values that remain constant, and the computer uses the information to assist the pilot in handling an aircraft.  In life, not all (or even many) values are constant – but we acted like they were.

We kept doing what we had been doing – which kind of included God, but mostly was all about us.  You see, although we had been attending various churches for all of our lives, we weren’t living according to Christian principles, and that wasn’t working.

God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.        Romans 2:6-8 (NIV)

We were prideful

When we lived in Florida, both Brad and I were working, so our income was much greater than it has been since moving to Wisconsin.  Unfortunately, we didn’t change our spending habits at all!  In fact, there were actually months we spent MORE than we had when we were both working.  Our pride wouldn’t let us admit to others that we probably shouldn’t go out to dinner, or buy our kids the latest whatever. We’ve all heard the phrase, pride goeth before the fall from Ezekiel 31 and Proverbs 16, I just never realized how prideful we were being.

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;                                 in all his thoughts there is no room for God.      Psalm 10:4 (NIV)

We didn’t rely on God

Scratch that – we didn’t even ASK FOR HIS HELP!!! And, this, perhaps, was the biggest problem of all.  Being relatively new Christians, it wasn’t a habit to include God in all our decisions.  Granted, we would pray, and it seemed – on the surface – that we were asking Him what to do. But, it was more about asking Him to bless what WE wanted and what WE were doing, rather than asking Him for guidance.  In hindsight, we weren’t placing our trust in Him or relying on Him at all.

Whenever I think of stormy weather and rough waters, I immediately think of Matthew 14:22-33.  In this passage, the disciples’ boat was getting tossed around by waves.  Then, they see a figure walking towards them on the water!  Once they realized it was Jesus, Peter decided to test him and asked to walk towards him on the water.  All was going well until Peter got scared, stopped trusting, and began to sink.

That’s what happened to us – we didn’t trust and ask for God’s help.

What now?

As soon as we realized our ship was sinking, I was drawn to James.  I read the first few verses and was hooked.  Brad and I then took a night and read the whole book, chapter by chapter, out loud and really let it sink in.

How could we have been so foolish!  In verse 5, we – who are without wisdom – are instructed to ask for it and God will give it to us.  Could it really be any easier?!?

Ah, please refer to point 2 – PRIDE.

So, in the end, we have made some MAJOR adjustments to our spending habits.  It will take time to make headway and dig ourselves out of what we did to ourselves, but we are excited! We have been asking God for his guidance and actually listening and obeying so we can be better stewards of all of His blessings.

Another habit we have gotten into is filling out a monthly budget.  Not a novel idea by any means, but it has been a tremendous help.  If you would like a copy of what has helped get us back on track, click here.

Your Thoughts?

We would love to hear about your financial struggles and what verses you have found to help guide you and keep you on track!