DEBT

What is it and how did we get there?! For most when you say that word they think it's "everyday" bills and such or a broader word of lack but the dictionary says debt is as follows

DEBT:To owe, something owed by one person to another or others 2.an obligation or liability to pay or return something 3.the condition of owing

I think that is to simplistic and why we as Americans are so far into debt. I fully think the definition should read more like this----DEBT:an obligation or liability to pay for something without the ability to do so! After all I have an electric bill and a water bill and a gas bill which are things that I owe for the service I used but because I can pay them I don't count those as debts nor do I think having them makes me in debt.

The DEBT I'm talking about is the one that makes you a slave to those you owe--even if you didn't deliberately run up a bill or obligation it's the kind of owing that robs you of the blessings God has for you because you can't get past the debt.

to many times we think about "buying" something and put it into the category of simple debt--we want something,we charge it and owe on it and we go about our business as though nothing is wrong or out of whack. After all we just have "debt" like the dictionary--we owe something to someone --no big deal right? But DEBT has become a big deal for many many Americans--us included, as we bought into the idea that owing for things was really not a big deal and just a simple part of life after all we owe for our utilities but don't think of our self as being in debt--we live in houses and drive cars but we don't see that as debts as you have to live in a place and most of us need cars to get around so since it's a "needed thing" it's not a debt giving item. But somehow we went from having "debt" that we owed and could pay for easily to being IN DEBT which is owing more than what we can pay for out of our own abilities. Now granted most of our debt is from medical issues that we had no control over but half of our debts are simply our fault for not planning better.

It's so easy to blame someone else for the debts we have but the truth is we are our worst enemy and have no one to blame but our self. At one time we had one credit card with a small limit and we waited until I was 25 years old before we ever got that--now that doesn't sound like I was all that old at the time but I was only 16 when we got married so we waited a full NINE years into our marriage before we ever got a credit card.We used it for true emergencies and payed it off most of the time--since the credit limit was only $1,200 for so many years we never felt in debt even when it was maxed out as John could just do 2-3 side jobs and make that much in 2 weeks or less if we needed the money that bad. But now we have more credit cards than I want to admit to and worse of all we owe more than the national average. For those that don't know the national average is around the $8,000 to $9,000 mark. SHOCKING ISN'T IT!!!And yet that is just an average as many many people owe more than that on credit cards alone. Factor in your car debt,house debt and other non essentials and you have an out of control wildfire of debt and no fire hose in sight!

So how did we get there--owing so much and becoming a slave to the lenders as the bible puts it. Simple---WE ALLOWED OUR SELF TO BECOME SEDUCED BY THE WORLDS INTERPRETATION OF DEBT, AND TOOK OUR EYES OFF OF GOD!!! WE ALONE ARE TO BLAME FOR ALL THIS! It's totally our fault for dancing with the devil, Satan is a seductress in every since of the word, he works in subtle and tantalizing ways and sucks you into his snare all so you are too in tangled to follow after God and the true plan for your life. It was a simple start, we got a Sears card on top of our credit union credit card which was no big deal at first but that lead to us having a false since of being in control which lead to us getting a credit card for our business and justifying that which at the time we thought we were managing things well and still within our realm of being able to pay for it. That of course lead to another business credit card and then still a third one then another personal credit card and all the while we told our self what the devil was seducing us with-- which was debt and slavery to the lender-- was still no big deal after all we could just get one big job and pay them all off, the "big job was just around the corner" but all that was a lie-- as we had gone from trusting in God for our every move to relying on our self .We had put us into Satans hand and at his will to sift us like sand whenever he choose to. And sift us he did!! All the "big" jobs dried up and we made one mistake after another as our eyes got further and further off of GOD!

TAKING OUR EYES OFF OF GOD WAS OUR DOWN FALL!!! Debt is like the ocean- vast and deep, but at the shore line it can be some of the prettiest places in the world! After all who doesn't like a day at the beach--just go to the Caribbean where the white sandy beach and clear beautiful ocean meet and you can see why it's so easy to jump in and get wet, there at the shore line you don't see the danger as you can get in and swim around, you can even swim away from the beach but still keep it in your eyesight so no big deal, you can stay wet as long as you like with your feet firmly on the ocean floor and "tell yourself" all is well but get out there far enough and before you realize it you have nothing in your view but the vastness of the ocean and the water instead of being clear and beautiful is dark and stormy. There is nothing out there to hold on to either, just your own strength which you know will wear out soon. It's that dark and scary place with the energy of our self slipping away that John and I found we were at a few months away. So helpless and even hopeless that we would survive. We no longer feel the fear we did just a few short months ago not because we got out of the ocean but because we finally put our eyes back on Jesus!
I love the story in the bible of Peter walking on water--you can read the whole passage yourself in Matthew 14:22-33 it totally describes us right now in so many ways. We put our self in a boat and rowed under our own power until we were in the middle of the ocean(Peter was in a lake but it's almost the same thing) and the storms of life came upon us and we were frightened we knew there was hope(Jesus,Gods favor,wisdom) and walked a good part of the way towards that but we faltered and took our eyes off the answer and went under fast and hard and sank almost to the point of drowning. But standing right in front of us the whole time was the answer and so we called upon that NAME THAT IS ABOVE THE NAME OF DEBT and He heard our cry and reached out toward us. This is the place where we are at---still in the ocean but our eyes on Jesus, His hand is on ours and we are being pulled up and just like the story we know we will soon be back in the boat with the calm winds and heading back in toward the shore of the land of even where we can once again climb that mountain of abundance and enter into the land of more than enough---a place we plan on staying!!

We are taking a "GET OUT OF DEBT CLASS" at church starting on Sunday evening--it will be a true reality check. I plan on blogging about it as we go through this and being totally and fully honest about our finances. I hope to add a debt ticker to the side bar so I and everyone else can see God work the miracle in our life of debt reduction. NO I DON"T THINK MONEY WILL RAIN DOWN FROM HEAVEN IN THE LITERAL SINCE but I know it will be a miracle as God speaks and we listen and obey. When Jesus reached out and took Peters hand while he was drowning a miracle took place as Peter once again WALKED ABOVE THE WATER--only this time it was with the Lord at his side one step at a time and that is how we will do it to.

I invite anyone who reads this to join with us and take the challenge to "OWE NO MAN ANYTHING BUT TO LOVE HIM" If you aren't ready to take the plunge yourself or better yet you don't need to than just join with us in faith as we go through this and give God the glory due as He faithfully provides!!