You may have experienced this scenario; You get a bill, or an unexpected fee, and your stress level begins to rise. You don't have the money. Or maybe, you do have the money but times are tight and you're trying to be thrifty. Or maybe you're a missionary and you're trying to be a good steward and responsible...
and the fee is unavoidable.
Like driving a car, and breaking down, and the only nearby repair station bilking you higher rates because they can.
And there is nothing you can do about it. Your stress level goes up. Something in you cries out for justice 'THIS ISN'T RIGHT'. You decide to see what creative things you can do to mitigate the cost. Maybe part of you dies as your hopes for that money may have been something you could have enjoyed with your family.
Instead, it's money, right out the window. And you don't like it.
Has that ever happened to you? It happens to me regularly.
I have to go through this process, it's a disciplinary action I put on myself, to hopefully develop a discipline. It goes like this:
- Take wise steps to be creative and not be wasteful.
- Don't be disrespectful or angry when taking those steps.
- If those steps prove to be so complex that you are being distracted from what your main purpose is, drop it!
- Remember the money is God's money, and not yours.
- Remember that God put authorities into position for a reason.
- Relax, and spend the money with a cheerful heart and giving attitude.
I had a few moments like this today. In the process of moving, we need to paint our house, and the last time we painted was 6 years ago. The new house we're moving into requires a paint job, and the price of paint in this country is $100 per gallon. Because we were not expecting to have to move, we did not budget for a new paint job as our old one is still clean and 'new to us'. However the house we're moving into needs interior AND exterior paint.
This unexpected expense in moving has caused us to question 'do we really need paint?' The estimate is close to $2500 to get it all done. So my wife and I sat there thinking 'we didn't come here to paint houses.. we came here to minister to people, how can we justify this expense?'
So the stress of the unexpected fee, coupled with the moral quandry of whether or not we should paint the house has led to a drop in the mood lately.
Still, my dad always taught me to keep a certain amount of money handy for emergencies like this... when you own a home, or a vehicle, you're sure to have them. However we also have this thing called 'furlough' coming up, which we need to save $10,000 for just to be able to fly home and back.
Anyway... thankfully, in the midst of this financial stress God reminded us 'it is MY money, I've given it to you.' and quickly turned our prayer from 'do we need paint' (which we do) to 'God help us to be wise stewards of your resources'.
