Hope for your financial life and beyond

My Go To Bible Verse When I Worry About Money

If there is one thing I’ve discovered while monitoring my own finances through the years it’s this – the future is friends with worry. It’s inevitable. At some point I will worry about money.worry about money

I think many people are right there with me. A recent survey showed that 73% of Americans ranked their finances as the #1 stress in their life. That’s over things you’d think would cause more stress like relationships, career, family, kids and traffic on the freeway.

So what’s to worry about when it comes to money? Well, everything really.

First and foremost, we worry about how to make ends meet. Again, recent studies show that just over 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. That means they can only make ends meet from one paycheck to the next. That’s no way to live, wondering if you can make it to the next pay stub.

But there are other areas where people worry about money.

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The Most Important Reason You Do Not Worry About Tomorrow

You’ve probably heard it said at some point, “Hey, do not worry about tomorrow. Focus on today and let the future take care of itself.” That’s not bad advice really. The older I get the more I’m realizing why.

do not worry about tomorrowWe all have things that affect our actions from day to day. Things we’ve done in the past affect us in the present. Things we are doing in the present affect us in the present. And believe it or not, things that we will do in the future affect us in the present even though they haven’t happened yet.

You may be thinking, “How could that possibly be if those events have yet to occur?” Well, it’s not the event per se that affects us. It’s how we think about those yet-to-happen events and how they lead us to worry about them.

Of those three time lines – past, present and future – I think the future one has the greatest potential to stop us in our tracks. Here’s how.

Why You Do Not Worry About Tomorrow

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The Future Is Where Your Present Goes to Die

Hidden Nuggets Series #95 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

I’m not 100% sure about the future.

the futureI don’t know for certainty what it holds, where I’ll be five years from now or what I’ll be doing.

At times in my life it’s been unnerving not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week or next year. It’s easy to get wrapped up in and obsessed about it to the point where it hinders us from achieving anything in the present. In that way the future becomes where the present goes to die.

Don’t misunderstand. I’ve got plans. I’ve got ideas. I’ve even got dreams.

But they are MY plans born out of my best guesses as to where I see life taking me. There is no assurance they will unfold based on the expectations I currently maintain. The pathways of life can turn on a dime as I’m learning more and more the older I get.

I wish I could write a post for you entitled “5 Easy Ways to Figure Out Your Future” and be done with it. It’s really not that simple. But what I can share with you is the hope I have that my future is already taken care of. It’s in the hands of the One who does know.

“For I Know…”

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The Hidden Issue Behind the Best-Laid Plans

Hidden Nuggets Series #66 – “…you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away…” – James 4:14

“Mary, I know what I’m going to do tomorrow and the next day and next year and the year after that. I’m shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m going to see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Coliseum…then I’m coming back here and go to college and see what they know, and then I’m going to build things…”

george bailey and mary hatchSounds like this man is going to have a wonderful life. His path is clear. His steps are ordered in sequence. His vision is grand.

Yet, the movie character George Bailey never saw how life might disrupt his best-laid plans. He wasn’t anticipating any curveballs, like the impending tragedy coming to his family…that he’d take over the Building and Loan…that he’d give his college money to his brother Harry…that Harry wouldn’t want to take George’s place at the building and loan…that he’d marry Mary…that he’d use his honeymoon money to solve an economic crisis…that he’d face personal financial ruin over no fault of his own.

Funny how life chews up our plans, spits them out and declares, “Take that!”

George didn’t accomplish any of the dreams hatched in his young adult mind. But that doesn’t mean he never should have planned. Planning is vital for success. Maybe he could have been less arrogant though by understanding who it is that really orders our path. That’s the hidden issue behind our plans…they are subject to the one who knows what the future holds.

A Better Perspective on Planning

In the Bible, these words from the apostle James bear this idea out,

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6 Awesome Lessons for Managing Through a Financial Crisis

Hidden Nuggets #32 – “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.” – Genesis 41:39

financial crisis

Will you be prepared for the next crisis?

At some point in our lives we will face a financial challenge. Perhaps it will reach the level of severity that we would deem it a crisis. Where the financial crisis will come from or how long it will last, we will never know. However, this is for certain – one will be coming and we will have to deal with it.

That fact alone should give us an incredible incentive to plan.

The life story of the Biblical character Joseph would make Hollywood giddy with the prospects of a full-length motion picture. The plot has everything you’d want: from family conflict and deception to seduction, slavery and redemption. Joseph faced it all. And it’s in his redemption phase where we learn a great deal of what it’s like to plan for and through a financial crisis.

The Bible describes a time where the Pharaoh of Egypt had a series of dreams as he slept one night. Pharaoh knows the dreams hold significant importance but he, nor his magicians can interpret the imagery. Enter Joseph, a man whom God had already blessed with the ability to decipher a dream’s meaning.

Joseph listens as Pharaoh shares the dream sequence. Then, with Godly assistance, Joseph explains to Pharaoh the good news and bad news:

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Give Me Your Guest Post Yearning to Breathe Free

ID-100223483A belated “Welcome to 2014” from Luke1428! And for you Chinese zodiac fans out there, welcome to “the year of the horse.” I trust your holidays were filled with many blessings and you are looking forward to the upcoming new year.

I’m sure by now you have read countless posts about New Year’s resolutions. Did you make any this year? Perhaps the better question is, have you already broken some of them?

I’ll be honest with you…I haven’t made any yet. That feels weird for me because I’m all about setting and pursuing big goals. I had a whole host of them I worked towards and discussed all of last year on this blog.

Despite my lack-of-resolution status, I have determined that 2014 will be a year of letting go for me.

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