You can’t breathe. The bills are piled high and you don’t know how you’ll ever pay them off. The creditors are calling left and right, your relationship is suffering, and the car is getting towed away outside. What do you do? Where do you start? Start here.
Start With The Lord
There is no magic formula to dissolve your chaos. To say that this article is going to have the solution to your situation would be a lie. This is a starting place, a place where you can take a few minutes and begin to realign your focus.
You’ve heard this verse before, but let it sink in:
Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. -Psalm 55:22 NIV
Not sure if you are righteous? Do you believe the LORD and his guidance?
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. -Genesis 15:6 NIV
Take a moment and pray. The Lord cares for your situation and will help you through this. After you have spent some time with God (and maybe sitting with some encouraging bible verses), it’s time to begin the process of achieving a firm financial foundation from which you can attack your obstacles.
Continue With These Three Actions
There are three general steps that one must take on the road to financial recovery. You can add a great deal to this template, such as reducing your spending, raising your income, building an emergency fund, etc. However, these are good general guideposts for improving your financial situation.
1. Collect your thoughts and concerns.
The very first thing that you’ll want to do is write down all your burdens – get them out of your head! Many times, the sheer amount of things we have to do can overwhelm and create atrophy. By writing down all your thoughts and concerns, you’ll have something physical you can sort through to better process your next actions.
It can be difficult to start this process if you try to organize as you collect your thoughts. Don’t even try to make sense of all your financial obstacles yet. The goal here is to simply COLLECT everything you have on your mind. As you proceed, you’ll start to feel the burden lift.
2. Organize a game plan.
Alright, now that you have all that stuff out of your head, it’s time to make sense of it all. Piece by piece, address the thoughts and concerns you have written down. You’ll find that some of these to-dos can be completed in less than two minutes. If that’s the case, do them now! Others will take longer, and you’ll either need to delegate the task (example: to your spouse) or defer it to a specific day and time.
It’s important to create boundaries for yourself. The last thing you want to do is spin your wheels and get nowhere. For example, you can determine how frequently you talk with the creditors – don’t let them call you every day! You’re not going to change your financial position overnight.
3. Jump into action and proactively attack your problems.
Lastly, it’s time to do all those tasks that will lead to a better financial future. If your income is lacking, follow your itinerary and go job hunting according to your game plan. Remember, it doesn’t help to merely create a schedule for when you are to complete certain financial goals – you must DO WHAT YOU PLANNED!
One of the best tips my father taught me was to proactively attack a problem before it gets worse. The sooner you can get to the root of your issue, the better. Don’t let financial burdens go unaddressed.
Keep Your Eyes On The Lord
Throughout the whole process, remember that God is ultimately in control. Seek the Lord’s will in everything, trust Him, and don’t forget that the One who made the world can help you change your financial future. Amen readers?
Photo by josephpetepickle
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Amen! Excellent words of wisdom for us all!
Amen!
You have my “Amen” on this also!
John, excellent post. Keeping the Lord first in all we do is critical in all areas of life. Often trouble is the thing that sends us running to Him and He is mighty to provide the assistance we need. It was in my own personal financial crisis in 1988 that He taught me so much and showed me that what I had experienced personally would be coming upon the nation in the future. That time is now. This was the purpose of why I began writing In The Trenches – Financial Survival During Times of Hardship in 2002. For me the experience was not just getting by but rebuilding in an entirely new way. I don’t usually make a plug for the book in comments however your topic is so directly related to the entire purpose of my personal vision and mission that I felt it would be appropriate. For those who are currently facing the struggles John mentions I hope you will check out http://inthetrenches2009.blogspot.com . The Lord will lead you through this time and has good plans for your life and future.