How Christians Can Stop Struggling Financially
Struggling Financially?
In this post, I want to share one of the biggest reasons many Christians are struggling financially, and how you can overcome this.
This obviously doesn’t apply to Christians being unjustly persecuted in different parts of the world.
But this reason became clear to me most vividly with my relationship with my wife Emma.
And no, the reason is not “you married someone who likes to spend, spend, spend,” Even though that might be a reason.
The first time I went anywhere with Emma, it was me, my best friend and her. We went to the movies and watched a comedy.
They both enjoy a good laugh, so I know they enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed our time together too, but for different reasons.
Comedy is ok, but it needs to be funny.
I didn’t plan to share this with you, but it is so heavily linked with today’s lesson.
My best friend, obviously, had a life and so wasn’t always going to be there to spend time with us.
Emma liked to watch movies.
My Back Story on Financial Struggles
I believe it makes sense to share it. It kind of sets the scene for some of the things we did before we got married.
I liked to watch movies (if they were good)…
(Think Inception, In Time, The Matrix 1, No Country For Old Men).
So, one of the things we did in the early days of our relationship was go to the movies.
Many times at the end of the school week, we would link up and go to the cinema.
It started off with us catching the train together, and then evolved over time into driving there together.
We watched various different movies,
Some good.
Some “very bad”.
But we were together, forming a relationship, which although not perfect, has turned into a happy family.
All Glory to God!
It All Stopped!
But this all stopped after something I hold extremely close to heart happened. It revealed a major problem!
And this story I’m sharing with you holds the key to a big reason why so many Christians are struggling financially, and how you can stop this from happening to you.
A small key like this, can open big doors in your life! 🙂
It’s not the only reason Christians struggle financially, but something you don’t want to fall into.
So, let me explain…
Fast forward a few years now, me and Emma are married.
We have our daughter Anna, and have rebuilt our faith from what seemed like an ash heap. (But this is for another day).
All I’ll say for now is…
Anna was the grace of God we needed, in the worst year I’ve had since being saved.
God really knows how to turn things around.
But I remember a point in our marriage we were counting pennies,
We were down to our last pound.
I was beyond scared, and didn’t really know how we got into this situation.
But I remember telling Emma,
“We will be fine. God will bring us out of this circumstance“.
I didn’t know how, but I believed this because I read about, and remembered so many examples of God bringing his people out of struggles in the Bible.
I was drawing on examples in the Bible like Elijah and the widow woman in1 Kings 17:8-16.
A widow woman down to her last, who had faith in God, and was delivered.
I thought about Job. Job was this extremely wealthy man Job 1:3 says.
But he hit rock bottom and lost all of his wealth, and the majority of his family.
And God elevated Job to a level he could have only imagined. He went from being the greatest man in the East, to receiving a double portion from God. He far excelled any greatness he had previously.
I thought about Jesus’ words.
One of the passages I’ve been meditating on since my early days in salvation which helped comfort myself and Emma then, and still helps us today.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
Don’t worry about food, clothes, drink.
Focus on the Kingdom of God.
The Bible says God doesn’t change.
So I knew if we stayed focused on God, God would deliver us too.
But what happened next, happens from time to time.
You know the right answers, but you don’t do the right answers.
I started playing the wrong game as I like to say.
I remember praying for financial blessings around the same time,
“LORD BLESS ME FINANCIALLY.”
“LORD HELP ME BECOME RICH.”
“LORD, I’M BELIEVING FOR A MIRACLE IN MY FINANCES.”
“IN JESUS’ NAME AMEN…”
And you know what the Lord showed me?
We still used to go to the movies, but nowhere near as frequent as we did in our early days.
He showed me how we would spend our money so freely, for example, at the movies, enjoying actors who were using Jesus’ name as a curse word.
People blaspheming Him.
The God I say I serve and love.
And we would watch movies with half naked men and women, dressed extremely immodestly in the name of fashion.
On a regular basis.
And after revealing this to me,
The much needed gut-punch I received next was…
You want me to bless you financially so you can waste my money on nonsense? I’m the greatest accountant…
EVER!
Can God drop the mic?
Be Accountable
It was then I realised that I needed to take better account of our money.
I needed to make the most of what we have however small, and we needed to focus more on God.
I began thinking about God as an accountant,
Why would someone so rich, so wise, give me an abundance of money to throw away on things which were not for God-honouring purposes?
And more crucially, on things which dishonour him?
That doesn’t make much sense does it?
But there were many areas I was throwing money away like this.
And this was when I truly realised one reason so many Christians are struggling financially is because:
They’re wasting money on things which do not glorify him, but blaspheme him, but are still seeking him for blessings and breakthrough!
I want to share 5 things to help you get out of this situation.
But these are not microwave blessings.
These are the true ways to truly master your life, by Mastering the Bible.
5 Things To Help You Stop Struggling Financially As A Christian
#1. You are going to be fine.
Because God’s children are always fine in the end. Never forget this.
#2. Meditate on God’s Word daily.
Remind yourself of this by meditating on God’s Word daily.
Examples in the Bible like Elijah and the Ravens, those who seek the kingdom and its righteousness like Jesus said.
Examples like Job, David and so on.
#3. Monitor Your Finances
Think about what you are doing with the finances you have right now.
#4. Pray for Revelation
Ask God to show you, what needs to be done in order to stop struggling financially.
And ask for help from God how to action the plan.
#5 You Have A Family
As a Christian you have family in EVERY CITY IN THE WORLD.
When you are lacking, they can help with food, financial help, and even a roof.
I pray you are blessed by this.
Prefer To Watch?
God bless, Israel.
If you enjoyed reading this post (or watching the video), please share it with a friend. Be your brother’s keeper and share the message. If you have questions or comments, leave them in the comments section below.
Ps. Thank you to my monthly partners who help make things like this a reality. And thank you to Mr Chau for editing this article.
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