Hand the Plow or Bear the Whip

All the provision should be there by paying day. People want their invoices paid on time as agreed. A person of integrity pays their bills on time. It’s a matter of honor. God promised to provide and He is completely honest. So how is it we find ourselves coming up short at times?

If you send your kids to get new tires and they come back with a new car are you going to pay for it?

After all ‘they ‘said, “filling out the paperwork is actually easier than changing the tires and “if the tires are worn out it’s probably time to get a new car” and that they could “take the old one off our hands” and give us a supremely great deal today only but not to wait to long because “there is already someone else looking at it.” So we bought it because we really ‘needed’ it! Which means; we thought it was cool and lusted after it so we decided to charge it. “So aren’t you happy? Now you don’t need new tires on your old car or anything else.”
“Oh, and by the way the I guess they are gonna send you a bill for $487.00 a month for the next seven years and your insurance might go up like 48% or something like that. But L–OO-K at this car! Let’s go for a ride” and everybody gets in delighting in the new smell and lush leather ignoring the fact it’s a really nice trap. And you are really ‘happy’ riding around in the lap of luxury until the fowler comes and you have to pay with the skin of your chin-e-chin-chin because it’s paying day and you owe more than can simply be sheared.

I was praying about and considering my bad debt the other day and the Lord seemed to say, “you’ve been outwitted by the enemy.” And referred me to Ps 89:22.

Ps 89:22
NKJV
The enemy shall not outwit him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
KJV
The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
NCV
No enemy will make him give forced payments,
and wicked people will not defeat him.

I began to think about how deceptive all the credit card companies are and all the ‘fine print’ and how it’s just a trap waiting to be sprung upon you. Get a low rate, get miles, ‘Free” rewards bla, bla, bla. And credit cards are good for perfect people, as long as you play the game right and never make a mistake you can live in the trap without being trapped. The only problem is that a majority of people will eventually make mistakes and they know it. They are in the business to make money not to help you with your little problems and desires. Do you really think they can afford to give you a long term low rate? The rate is the bait and the fowler knows the cost is less than what he will get out of his trap. Once you are trapped you become their slave and clip your wings to do it if they desire. And they do desire to make money and so they will take it from whoever is stupid enough to live in their trap. Master Card, “I will be your master” Visa, “your passport to bondage” Discover, “paying 18.99% interest…” oh what a great discovery.

Debt is deceptive and it even has its knife at the throat of our nation. If it can bring down the ‘big eagle’ what do you think it’s gonna do for you? The prophets have been saying for years, “GET OUT OF DEBT!” And the Bible says,

“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."
2 Chron 20:20 NKJV

And who has listened? Sorry to say not me. Hooray! And Kudos! To the ones who did, but what are the rest of us gonna do? It seemed like a good idea at the time and some money I ‘had to’ borrow to pay for the house and medical bills and the kid’s college but not the rest. The bills I believe God has led me to incur seem to get paid but it’s the rest of the car that’s the problem. I think I have to repent and take back the new car and just get the tires on the ‘old’ one. Here’s a scripture that refers to being a co-signer but would it not also apply to the signer?

Prov 6:1-5
6 My son, if you become surety for your friend,
If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
NKJV

Prov 6:1-5
6 Dear friend, if you've gone into hock with your neighbor
or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,
2 If you've impulsively promised the shirt off your back
and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,
3 Friend, don't waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess.
You're in that man's clutches!
Go, put on a long face; act desperate.
4 Don't procrastinate —
there's no time to lose.
5 Run like a deer from the hunter,
fly like a bird from the trapper!
MES

So I wish I was writing this form the platform of the debt free but that’s not where I find myself. I’m not just trying to tell others how to get out of a mess, I’m in the mess myself and seeking God about how to get out. I’ve been fooled and ‘fowled’ by my credit card companies. Many years ago I had an alcohol addiction that was ruining my life and the Lord led me out of that. It’s been over 15 years and I’m still free! Is this any less of an affliction? Is not bad debt right now destroying many lives and relationships and tearing at the throat of our whole nation. But I’m fed up with it I’ve had enough and I believe its time for deliverance. But how will it happen? The answer is prayer, the Word and self control. Just like 15 years ago when I was an alcoholic. One day I was reading the Bible and I came upon Eph 5:18 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (NIV) I had no idea what the ‘debauchery’ meant from reading the word but I knew the results from living it. Apparently it is “the extreme indulgence of ones appetites” (Web.) I could reason, well I don’t drink wine (I know it’s too nasty coming up) I mostly just drink A LOT of beer so this scripture isn’t talking to me it’s talking to winos. But I knew that was stupid because the scripture was talking to me! You can always find a way to reason yourself right out of God’s way and right back into bondage. So I said simply said (prayed), “OK God, I won’t drink anymore if you fill me with Your Spirit.” And that was it right? Not exactly, that was the beginning of it. I really didn’t know how I was gonna live without it at the time; I thought it was my life. But when I found the real I no longer needed the counterfeit. Every time after that when the temptation would come to get drunk I would quote the scripture out loud or in my head. And believe me I was quoting it A LOT especially the first few months and year. And I’m happy to say that I’ve been free from that day to this but it didn’t “just happen” it was the result of prayer and meditating on and declaring the Word which enabled self control. Because Jesus said,

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32 NKJV
Now I find myself caught in another addiction of debauchery knowing the word and the results of a lack of self control. My credit card debt is up over my ears and I even find myself lately eating of plastic. I’m not talking about Margarine since they say it’s mostly plastic anyway but I’m talking about putting the groceries on the “MASTER” Card. You know you are in trouble when you find yourself thinking like the Popeye character WIMPY and saying, “I Will Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Hamburger Today.” You become WIMPY when you charge more than you can pay for. Now “the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Prov 22:7 NKJV) and you just might end up with an extra job soon flippin burgers instead of eating them. “So what am I going to do?” Seems to be the desperate cry of the times and it’s time to make a decision. I need to get out of debt and it’s hard to get out of a hole when you keep on digging. This seemingly harmless plastic shovel that I’ve held onto “in case of an emergency” has caused an emergency! It was so fun digging this big hole in the sand but now the tide is coming in. Every paying day the bills flood in and I splash around spitting out sand and salt water and hoping I make it through another one without drowning. This leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and we may even find ourselves stressed and fighting on our plastic family vacation. So enough rambling… what am I going to do about it? The answer is the same as always – Prayer, the Word and Self-control.
1. Pray and ask for forgiveness for disobedience, debauchery and looking to another to be my financial “savior’ and provider.

2. I will pray and meditate on God’s Word and seek His Wisdom concerning my financial decisions and trust Him to empower me for self control. Here is my scripture because it’s become a 911.

Psalm 91:1-3
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the presence of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler
And the perilous pestilence.

3. I will - Stop Digging! I must STOP just putting stuff on the card at random. In case of emergency the first thing I will do is pray and not just pull out the plastic.

4. I will make a budget and live within my means.

5. I will set up system for accountability.

At this point I really don’t know how I will live without it. But I believe as I find the True God to be my Provider and follow Him that I will no longer need the counterfeit. I’m trusting He will show me the way out as I follow Him and I know that there is no need for Him to start until I stop digging. I’m praying that my daughters wedding will be the last thing that I ever ‘have to’ put on my card and I will even do that another way if I can find one. I determine not to buy things I do not need or things that I want that I don’t have the money for. I will not make any major purchase (over $100 for me right now) unless my wife and I both agree that it’s the right thing to do according to God’s leading and the right way to do it. (If you are not married who will you accountability partner be?) Those $10s, $20s and $100s soon add up to so many thousands.

It’s time to make a decision; will you serve the Lord or follow your flesh and magnify mammon?

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matt 6:24 NKJV

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, (or Visa, Master Card and Discover) in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Josh 24:15 NKJV

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matt 6:31-34
NKJV

That’s what God said so I choose to believe Him! I’m starting a group for anyone who wants to COMMIT to get out of credit card debt. Because by God’s grace that’s where I am going, and I will stand with you if that’s where you want to go too.

But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62 NKJV

I will PLOW forward and not look back. I will plant and tend and keep what I have and live within my means. I will not be lazy and borrow and therefore become a slave plowing the field of another. I will learn to sow and save and reap the rewards of following God and doing His way and trust Him to be my Provider.

So the group is called PLOW and it’s open to anyone who wants to join. You will either have calluses on your hands from the work of plowing or the marks of the whip on your back from borrowing. So which one will it be? I’m tired of being Wimpy and getting whipped so I choose to plow. Will you join me and be free?

Facebook Group:
PLOW - Committed to getting out of credit card debt!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=92305395115