Why Do I Care?

Why am I writing this blog? The bottom line up front is because I NEED to.

There was a plaque in my high school science class. On it was this saying:
“The Wise Learn From Experience – Other Peoples’!”

I’ve never forgotten the saying. I haven’t always applied it, but I still remember it.

Being in debt, living on the edge of homeless indigence, selling off personal property to pay bills and put food on the table is an experience. I would not wish that experience on others. The lessons learned and Biblical teachings about indebtedness come from my experience.

I stated earlier that ‘Debt has had the greatest impact on the ability to walk faithfully with Christ. Debt’s impact has been greater than the loss of loved ones and friends, loss of career, the horrors of combat, or the debilitating injuries sustained in the Military combined.’

I’ve been a Christian for most of my life. I may be Christian, but I am no ‘saint’. Paul’s statement to Timothy (1 Ti. 1:15) “…that Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”, could easily apply to me.
After high school, and a couple of years in college, I joined the Army and became a career soldier. A ‘Training Accident’ ended my career. I spent three years in rehabilitation trying to regain my career. It didn’t happen. I went from a ‘guaranteed’ income, to a partial disability stipend, but I continued racking up debt.
God has a wonderful plan for me. One of the most misunderstood, misquoted, and taken out of context verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” So how does being permanently disabled, living in pain, loss of mobility, a host of medical problems, and loss of income work together for GOOD? The answer is in the next verse, Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The GOOD is that I might develop a better relationship with God and am more like Christ. That is the GOOD and the PLAN. I fall, I’m human, and I’m not perfect.
When it is a physical tragedy or calamity, like my father dying of cancer, or losing friends and loved ones, or my own disabilities, God is who I turn to. It is not easy. There were times when I railed against God, even hated Him. I have to keep going back to His promises. He promises this is for the GOOD of making me more like Christ if I walk with Him. There is also the promise of 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4, that says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Part of the GOOD is helping others because I’ve “been there, done that”. This is true of my disabilities, yes, but it is also true of DEBT.

Dealing with disabilities is tough. Debt was a completely different animal. It ‘disabled’ me from walking with God in ways my physical injuries NEVER did. It is a much more insidious (sneaky) way that Satan gets into a believer’s life and disables their walk with God!

I learned that debt was sin. I learned that it interfered with my relationship with God. Christians know that any sin separates them from God. Debt was no exception. It is a much more tangled web. There was the sin that got me into debt and the debt itself caused conflict and separation. I spent untold hours worrying about and paying debt. I carried the burden of debt like a ball and chain. It divided me between worshiping God, and serving creditors.
Since the military, I have been physically unable to keep a full time job. I have had to live on a stipend, minimal work, and the generosity of others. The stipend I received for my disabilities was not a living wage. It could not pay for rent, utilities, and food, much less pay for wants. I went further and further into debt, even though God was constantly (but not always recognized) meeting my needs. I was accepting my disabilities as His will, while getting further away from Him by increasing my debt.
I kept getting ‘hints’ about debt, but I was not paying attention. I don’t always ‘hear’ the prodding of the Holy Spirit. Often God has to get my attention by hitting me upside the head with a piece of lumber. That is what He did with debt.
In 2000, for the first time since the military career ended, I was working almost full time. I was house-sitting for a family that was supposed to be overseas for two years. In the space of two weeks, I ‘lost’ my job, and the family returned early, so I had to vacate their house. There I was, up to my chin in debt, jobless, and on the verge of homelessness.
I called out to God. He answered.
About that time, mom sent me a video interview. The interview was with Pastor Barry Cameron about the book “The ABC’s of Financial Success”. I’ve never read the book. The interview was enough to convict me.
There I was, up to my chin in debt, jobless, and on the verge of homelessness. NOW I was convicted that debt was sin. I studied the Bible trying to find an escape from the inescapable. Everything I studied only made me more convinced and convicted.

Picture the scene. I was physically disabled, jobless, and soon to be homeless. I did not know where I was going to live, work, or how I was going to pay for food much less debts. The huge weight of debt was on my shoulders. Add to that a great big neon flashing sign in front of me, “You Must Get Out of Debt!”
“God, you’ve got to be kidding, right?”
“You Must Get Out of Debt!”
“Yeah, right,” was the reaction.
“You Must Get Out of Debt!”
“Okay, how?”
“Trust and Obey!”
That conversation ended with me asking for forgiveness and deliverance. I was hoping for an instant miracle…You know, a long lost (unknown) relative leaving an inheritance, winning the lottery, an anonymous gift, something like that. It didn’t happen. What did happen was five years of hard work. Even as I stumbled, God provided. Repeatedly. It wasn’t one big miracle. It was many ‘little’ miracles as every day God provided. If it had been one big miracle, I would not have learned anything.
No, it was five years of learning to live, to spend, to save, to budget, to be content, and most importantly, to fully rely on God to meet needs. There was this huge debt weight on my shoulders, but I am convinced, Christ carried most of it. I lived knowing that if I didn’t learn lessons about debt, debt would crush me. I knew I was enslaved. I watched what it was doing to me. Even trying and learning to rely on God, the stress was literally killing me. Debt Slavery affected me mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Knowing I was doing the right thing, and walking with God, was liberating, to a point.
You can hardly imagine the relief, the liberation, and the rapture of paying off that last debt. How can one describe the indescribable? I have been set free. I am no longer a slave to debt.
I have learned how not to be enslaved again (although that is an ongoing battle).
That’s what this blog is all about! That is why I NEED to tell you about it!
I want, and pray, for you to experience the joy of debt freedom.
I want you to be able to walk with the Creator, unfettered.
Therein is a peace and joy that you cannot imagine, you have to experience!
Getting out of debt is not easy, but with God, it is possible, and it is what HE wants!