In A Panic About Money

“People are disturbed not by things, but by their perception of things” (Epicetus)

The truth is the person who has caused the most distress in my life is me. The Lord loves me just the way I am. I am saved and I don’t have to do anything. But my thoughts and subsequent deeds lead me to pain, anxiety and fear. I’m not the only one who is like this. Look around at the world. There are very few true emergencies in life and yet everyone is running around as if they’re always rushing to an emergency somewhere.  The emergency is in their heads.
Financially this extreme thinking rears it’s ugly head in our debts. Here are some examples of extreme thinking that affects our finances:

• “I’m tired of washing dishes by hand and not having a dishwasher…We need to by a new house with a kitchen that has a dishwasher”.

• “I want to save money on gas… I need to buy the new $32,000 Hybrid”.

• “If I don’t send my child to that expensive preschool he’ll fall behind and never be able to catch up. I’ll put his tuition on the credit card”.

• “My car doesn’t have a back up camera. I need to buy a new car”.

• “If I take a job making sandwiches at the deli because I need the money right now, I’ll end up staying there forever and ever and I’ll be making salami sandwiches until the day I die!!!”

Financially insecure people tend to be dramatic by nature. A stub on the toe is a catastrophe. A simple request from a supervisor is grounds to quit. To pay off my debts and move into prosperity I had to temper my thinking. In short I had to stop panicking and dramatizing because when I was freaked out, my ability to think clearly disappeared.

Action: Reframe your debts. No matter where you are on the debt scale, keep in mind that while there are people who owe less than you do, there are also people who owe more than you do.

And [Jesus] said unto them, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly…” (Mark 4:40-41)

Prayer: Lord, please help me to maintain a balance with my thinking. Please remind me that there are very few emergencies. Please help me to maintain faith in you in the storm of my mind.