# Fear of Financial Difficulties



## Mrs Backlasher (Dec 19, 2004)

I'd like to springboard off daParson's article "Scared to Death."

It seems to me that in this day and age, everything costs sooooooo much. It takes two incomes, and sometimes more, for a family to keep their head above water, financially speaking.

And it seems that money, or the lack of it, or the *potential* for lack of it, puts a lot of strain on a lot of people, including God's people.

So I'd like to address the *fear of financial difficulties*.

The devil is like a big bully. He threatens more than he actually does. But his threats put fear into us. And I think that's one of his biggest tools with Christians. The devil knows that fear cripples us.

But the Bible tells us that fear is not from God. God's perfect love casts out fear. So when we are afraid (even when we are afraid that our financial needs and goals won't be met) we can choose to *reject* what the devil is trying to dish out to us.

The Bible tells us in James "Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee."

That's 2 reasonably simple steps that we can remember when we're in the middle of our fears.

1. *Submit to God.* How can we do that?

Psalm 91:2 tells us "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my *fortress*: my God; in him will I trust." And Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the LORD is a strong *tower*: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Because Jesus died for our sins, the righteousness of Christ has been applied to our account. So we are *qualified to receive protection* in the fortress/tower of God.

(Memorize verses of the Bible. That is how we defeat the devil. It is our ammunition. Don't go into battle without ammunition.)

Offer up a quick prayer of trust. Say "God, I'm submitting myself to you, and I'm trusting in your word that says you will meet ALL of my needs. Thank you for providing for me and my family." (Support for this: Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.")

2. *Resist the devil.*

Say something similar to this: "Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. You have no hold on my life because I'm purchased by the blood of Jesus. I hereby resist your influence and you must flee according to the word of God."

*NOW WHAT?* What do you do *after* you did the required steps 1 & 2?

Faith is pretty much believing in what you can't see. Belief means *acting* as though it is so. So now you act as though there is NO fear, and there IS joy in your life, and NO worry. You are the only one who knows what this will look like in your life.

On one occasion, for me, it meant opening up to coworkers and greeting them with a pleasant smile (even though I didn't FEEL like it). It meant humming a tune. It meant pretending that I was happy even though I didn't feel happy. In a couple of hours, I suddenly realized that I wasn't "faking" it anymore. I really was happy.

Now, about money. We need money to function in the world and God knows that. God intends for us to pay our bills, and glorify him with tithing our income to our church, and spending for things that are honorable, and having a little bit extra to share with others.

*Picture this:* God wants us to be like a water hose, and he is like the faucet pouring resources into us. The hose becomes full of water before any comes out at the end. (All of our needs are met before we can let any of the resources flow out to benefit others.) But the hose can't *receive* any more water until it *releases* some water out the other end. If we put a nozzle on the other end of the hose, the water stops going out, but it also stops more water from coming in on the faucet side.

This is God's principle of giving and receiving. God loves a hillarious giver. Everything that God gives us should be held in an open hand, not in a fist. Give, and it'll be given unto you. How much do we give, to whom do we give (in addition to our church)? That's where we listen to God and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Long ago when my husband was attending seminary, the church we attended was getting a "money tree" together for the pastor for his anniversary date (so many years as the pastor). We loved our pastor, and we wanted to contribute money to the tree. But we both made only a bit above minimum wage (East Texas) had 2 kids in school in addition to seminary expenses, and we had nothing extra to give. So we prayed and told God that we'd like something to give to the money tree.

Before that Sunday came around, a man that we had sold an air conditioner to came by to see us. He still owed us some money on the A/C, but we had long ago given up on receiving it. He brought us the money he owed us, and we were able to give to our pastor after all.

When someone in our church wanted to pay for our daughter to get braces for her teeth, my husband discovered pride in his life (because he wanted to be able to provide for his children). We learned that we have to be prepared to receive from God no matter how he chooses to get it to us. And he will.

I've often said that God will give you more by accident than you could ever get for yourself on purpose, LOL.

The other thing I'd like to mention is regarding your financial goals. Be sure that they are the goals that God chooses for you. Sometimes God puts roadblocks in our path to prevent us from attaining financial goals that don't honor him or that he didn't initiate.

Just like us, God likes to be around happy people. The Bible tells us that he "inhabits the *praises* of his people" not the complaints of his people.

No matter what our circumstances are, we can be happy if we are satisfied that God is in control, he knows what he's doing, and he has a plan for us that is better than our own plans.

God wants to remove our worries so that we can DELIGHT in him. He's our papa, and he loves us, and he seeks only our good.

*You can bank on it!*


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## sandman (May 21, 2004)

Thank you for that Mrs. B. Some days it's easy to get wrapped up in the secular world and miss seeing the forest for the trees.


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## andrespurplerain (Dec 13, 2005)

You are so right Mrs B ! We must also remember that fear is the opposite of faith ! Its like the scales of justice when fear arises faith drops...and when faith arises fear drops! I can say too that Gods word says that the Lord has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, Love and of a sound mind !! God BLess YOU ALL !!!


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## seawings (Aug 28, 2004)

*Gifts:*



Mrs Backlasher said:


> We learned that we have to be prepared to receive from _*God no matter how he chooses to get it to us*_. And he will.
> I've often said that _*God will give you more by accident than you could ever get for yourself on purpose*_, LOL.


 You make such a good point here...how often have we recieved God's gifts and not know nor appreciated what we recieved?


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Great post. Thanks Mrs. B.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

That is a great post!

My family and I live on one income, since my wife home-schools our son. We live from paycheck to paycheck. However, the Lord always provides and then some more sometimes.

I always wanted to make more money,but, when I do, I always want more......never satisfied.LOL!

I work a 4 day work week and am off about 2 months out of the year, because I teach college. I figured if I wanted to start my own business or go back to work in Industry where I can make more money, I would loose a lot of family time. That family time is worth more than a million........I am a richly blessed man!


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