I love it when God gives a fresh perspective. I'll admit it, I've been having a fair number of pity parties for myself lately in relation to our financial journey. It feels like we have been climbing the Dave Ramsey debt-free mountain for SO long. We thought for sure we'd be over the "hump" by now. But, we're feeling kind of like Lewis & Clark in their maiden journey West: the mountain is big and seemingly right over the next hill...yet over the next hill isn't the base of the mountain - it's another hill. How much longer? How BIG is it?!
Lately, much to my embarrassment, my internal conversations with God have all too much resembled the Israelites in the wilderness. It's so easy to read their story and laugh at how childish and unreasonable they sound. Yet, without even realizing it, we can sound just like the 21st century version of them. Whiny. Un-thankful. Stubborn. Clueless. Yep...it makes me sad to think how often I mimic their actions.
Here's the thing that I want to share with you. The thing that has helped me to get my focus back in the proper place. Just like in the weight loss journey...following the right financial path doesn't always mean quick results. Or maybe, just like an out-of-whack metabolism from too many years of failed weight loss attempts, perhaps we've gotten an out-of-whack financial "metabolism" too. What do I mean by that? Well, depending on how bad the financial picture was when we began the journey towards repairing it...we may have dug ourselves a lot of financial holes. It's hard to show a lot of progress up the hill if we have to spend a lot of the beginning of the journey just getting back on solid ground. So, here's the ah-ha moment: even when we aren't getting the desired outcome (lower number on the scale or higher number in the bank account)...we still need to do what's right. Why? Because our goal isn't a number on the scale or a specific amount in our bank account. Our goal is to obey God.
Does God have an opinion on our weight and on our relationship with food? Why yes, He does. For details on that, read Lysa TerKeurst's book Made to Crave. Does God have an opinion on our finances? Well, I'm sure you know the answer to that too (a resounding "YES!").
I was able to get the "do-the-right-thing-whether-the-scale-is-moving-or-not" concept into my head. But lately, the feeling of working really hard but getting (seemingly) nowhere in our financial picture has gotten me down. Until God reminded me otherwise.
Past failures, no matter what area of our lives they were in, are still in the past. Nothing we can do now can ever un-do those things. So, therefore, no amount of guilt, condemnation, or shame is going to change them. All those things do is keep us locked up in the enemy's chains. Except, here's the thing about those chains: they aren't really locked. God has long ago broken those off. The only thing that keeps us in bondage, is our own willingness to remain there. Ouch. Did that sting your ears as much as it did mine? (If not, maybe you need to read it one more time.) The only thing that keeps us in bondage, is our own willingness to remain there. Yep. Still stung.
Can you imagine choosing to stay imprisoned when the door isn't locked and the way to freedom is right within your grasp? Who would do that? Oh, my friend. You and I choose to do that every single day. It's just that our chains aren't visible. Well, not except for the despair in our eyes. The guilt and shame we wear on our faces. The fear that furrows our brows and weighs us down. Nope. Our chains are where no one can see them. They're on our hearts and minds. But God has given us the gift of freedom. Freedom from ALL the things of this world that want to imprison us. Not just freedom in one area. Freedom in EVERY area! How many shackles are you still wearing? No, really. How many? I hope we can take some serious time of reflection to let God get in our face about this issue. This is the real deal, folks. This is where living life as a Christian should make us stand out. It should make us FREE! My prayer is that we'll have our eyes opened to our shackles this week. Every last one of them. And then...that God will give us the courage to leave them behind and walk through the freedom door. Did your heart leap for joy just now? Mine sure did.
Lately, much to my embarrassment, my internal conversations with God have all too much resembled the Israelites in the wilderness. It's so easy to read their story and laugh at how childish and unreasonable they sound. Yet, without even realizing it, we can sound just like the 21st century version of them. Whiny. Un-thankful. Stubborn. Clueless. Yep...it makes me sad to think how often I mimic their actions.
Here's the thing that I want to share with you. The thing that has helped me to get my focus back in the proper place. Just like in the weight loss journey...following the right financial path doesn't always mean quick results. Or maybe, just like an out-of-whack metabolism from too many years of failed weight loss attempts, perhaps we've gotten an out-of-whack financial "metabolism" too. What do I mean by that? Well, depending on how bad the financial picture was when we began the journey towards repairing it...we may have dug ourselves a lot of financial holes. It's hard to show a lot of progress up the hill if we have to spend a lot of the beginning of the journey just getting back on solid ground. So, here's the ah-ha moment: even when we aren't getting the desired outcome (lower number on the scale or higher number in the bank account)...we still need to do what's right. Why? Because our goal isn't a number on the scale or a specific amount in our bank account. Our goal is to obey God.
Does God have an opinion on our weight and on our relationship with food? Why yes, He does. For details on that, read Lysa TerKeurst's book Made to Crave. Does God have an opinion on our finances? Well, I'm sure you know the answer to that too (a resounding "YES!").
I was able to get the "do-the-right-thing-whether-the-scale-is-moving-or-not" concept into my head. But lately, the feeling of working really hard but getting (seemingly) nowhere in our financial picture has gotten me down. Until God reminded me otherwise.
Past failures, no matter what area of our lives they were in, are still in the past. Nothing we can do now can ever un-do those things. So, therefore, no amount of guilt, condemnation, or shame is going to change them. All those things do is keep us locked up in the enemy's chains. Except, here's the thing about those chains: they aren't really locked. God has long ago broken those off. The only thing that keeps us in bondage, is our own willingness to remain there. Ouch. Did that sting your ears as much as it did mine? (If not, maybe you need to read it one more time.) The only thing that keeps us in bondage, is our own willingness to remain there. Yep. Still stung.
Can you imagine choosing to stay imprisoned when the door isn't locked and the way to freedom is right within your grasp? Who would do that? Oh, my friend. You and I choose to do that every single day. It's just that our chains aren't visible. Well, not except for the despair in our eyes. The guilt and shame we wear on our faces. The fear that furrows our brows and weighs us down. Nope. Our chains are where no one can see them. They're on our hearts and minds. But God has given us the gift of freedom. Freedom from ALL the things of this world that want to imprison us. Not just freedom in one area. Freedom in EVERY area! How many shackles are you still wearing? No, really. How many? I hope we can take some serious time of reflection to let God get in our face about this issue. This is the real deal, folks. This is where living life as a Christian should make us stand out. It should make us FREE! My prayer is that we'll have our eyes opened to our shackles this week. Every last one of them. And then...that God will give us the courage to leave them behind and walk through the freedom door. Did your heart leap for joy just now? Mine sure did.
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