Today’s episode is a chapter from the book I wrote in 2013, Faith Leaps: The Christian Mom’s Guide to Passion, Purpose, and Profits. This chapter discusses anxiety, so I thought it would be relevant to this podcast. So, let’s get started.
God’s Miracle Math
An Example of Anxiousness
“Well, how much money do we have?” My husband asked.
I cringed every time I heard those words. It was the end of the month, which meant the end of the money. In my years of working from home, I haven’t always known where the money we needed was going to come from, but I can tell you it has always shown up. I like to call it God’s Miracle Math.
Being able to trudge through even on our bad days all comes down to our willingness to put our trust in God, not in our ability to earn money. When I quit my salaried part-time job, I gave up a steady income. I quit in March, and by October, my family and I were feeling the pinch on our finances.
I knew I had to do something, and God provided a way for me to make income from home with my writing in addition to the sporadic income I was making through speaking events over those four years. From when I quit my job to when I wrote this book, my faith has increased, and I have watched God provide for me again and again.
That has continued since 2013, when I wrote this book, and one of our keys to dealing with your finances and your financial concerns is to realize that everything we have belongs to God. Here’s what God’s Word says about this. God entrusts us with what he gives us, not only monetarily, but also with the gifts and the talents that He has blessed us with.
That is why it’s so important we realize we have gifts and then use them. This is why we focus on God’s gifts so heavily in this book.
A Scriptural Story of Giving
Scripture tells us, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” This is from Luke 12:48.
We must faithfully use our talents and our money wisely. God will bless us for what we choose to do with what we have been given.
Let’s recall the parable of the bags of gold from Matthew 25:14-28. It is about a man who went on a journey and entrusted his wealth to his servants.
“To one, he gave five bags of gold, to another, two bags, and to another, one bag, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
“The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
“So also, the one with two bags also gained two more.
“But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
“The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
“So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.
“For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
“Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This story helps us to see clearly that God is faithful, and His blessings are abundant when we are faithful to Him and with the blessings He has given us.
He also promises in Joshua 1:5, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
These words—that I will never leave you nor forsake you—are found in Scripture multiple times. Our Lord knows and wants us to know that He will take care of us. If you are not already aware of God’s faithfulness, learn to trust Him. He will never let you down.
A Command of Charity
Be willing to give back to Him, since He has already given so much to you. One way to do this is through tithing. I admit that this was a struggle for me in my early years of marriage.
Growing up, I’m sure my father and my mother tithed, but it wasn’t something we talked about. We’d give a dollar here or there in Sunday school or in the offering plate, but I don’t recall a time in my life where we had a conversation about the meaning of tithes or how tithing worked. My education on tithing has come from what I call the school of hard knocks.
Early in my marriage, I was determined to do well with my finances. But despite my best efforts, I still struggled.
One of the common questions I was asked when I sought help with finances was, do you tithe? Every person who asked me this backed up their question with the loving advice that you cannot out-give God. They assured me that God would bless my efforts.
Soon, my husband and I began to tithe, and I can honestly recall story after story of times that I would write out my tithe check, lay it in the offering plate, and say a prayer that I would have enough money for the other needs that we had that week.
Each time, not only did we have the money, but many times we were blessed with more. A new client would appear, someone would give us a few dollars here or there, or maybe someone would even bring us food or items.
That was just what we needed at the time. We had blessings such as a church member giving us this gigantic garbage bag full of diapers at a time when I had two babies in diapers.
A Faithful Father
God shows up in big ways and in small ways, and He will do the same for you when you are obedient to Him and what His Word teaches. His Word teaches us to tithe. To tithe means to give back a tenth of what has been given to you as part of trusting God. We must learn to give back our tithe. Scripture tells us this.
This means if we make a hundred dollars, we should give back ten dollars to God when we tithe. It is my feeling that we should tithe to the local church. However, some of you are called to give above and beyond the tithe, and that would be considered an offering.
My husband and I often give offerings for special funds that they collect at church. Many times, this goes to help with disaster relief, church plants, mission trips, and other specific ministries. An offering is optional, but either way, when we give to the Lord, we will see results.
The Lord is clear that He loves a cheerful giver and He will bless abundantly for our obedience to His commands.
Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Though I have been the receiver of God’s blessings, I’ve often done the hard things to follow His Word. This does not mean that I have not done so with fear and trembling many times. Let me tell you one of these stories.
I sat in the college parking lot and hurriedly dialed the automatic teller at the bank. I fumbled to punch in my bank account and pin, and the automated voice came over the line.
“Your account balance is negative six dollars and six cents.”
My heart sank, and my throat clogged. Tears stung my eyes as I realized what had happened.
This was the first time in my young marriage that this happened. Furiously, I hung up the phone and dialed my husband’s number, terrified of what his reaction might be. I explained to him what happened through my sobs.
“It’s not that big of a deal, Alyssa,” he said carefully. “It happens to people every day. It could be worse. I get paid tomorrow.”
My husband has always been that calm and level-headed constant in my life. My anxiety levels can soar and bottom out within a matter of minutes, but my husband can level out the playing field.
Early in my marriage, while I was still in college, my husband supported us on his salary. Three to five days a week, I would make a 70-mile one-way road trip to college for classes and back home. And for months, I had been listening to this money guy who came on the radio every day. You’ve probably heard of the famous Dave Ramsey. Dave shared his tried-and-true plan for financial peace with his guests.
As a newlywed, I truly wanted to live a debt-free lifestyle. So, one day I called the show, and Dave generously gifted me a copy of his first book as a late wedding gift. I began to write budgets and plan our finances because of this. But most months, even recent months in our lives, I’ve looked at our finances and thought we would end up with more money left than money.
We have always made it through, though I cannot quite tell you how it happened other than God’s provision. Unfortunately, we’ve created some debt along the way. A house, a minivan, not to mention medical bills, private school tuition, and other decisions that Dave might call the stupid tax, were made.
But as a Christian mom who’s also a business owner, it’s imperative that all areas of our lives be in line with Scripture. And Scripture tells us that the borrower is a slave to the lender.
So, I’m still trying to get out of debt. I wish my husband and I could have avoided debt at all costs. As a Christian, my debts from the past weigh heavily on my heart. Having a good portion of our income each month going to debt is disheartening, but I want to be faithful in paying those debts off.
If you or your family aren’t currently in debt, please don’t make the mistake of funding your business through debt. I’ve done that before, and it definitely wasn’t worth it.
But I will say that God has always been faithful, and we have always had our needs provided for, whether those needs were met through monetary earnings that we had through my business, or through my husband’s job, or through a gift from someone, or many other times that things just coincidentally happened. All the time, it was God’s provision that was making a way for us.
So, it is my prayer that this podcast episode has been a blessing to you, and you can see how God is providing. If one of your biggest anxieties is like mine and it’s about money, I encourage you to look back on your life, to look at your situation, and to see how, if you’ve been obedient to God, he has provided for you.