Financial Ethic #5 Part 2: Is Extra Money the Answer to Your Financial Mistakes?

Does the idea of trying to generate a large amount of money in a short amount of time so that you can quickly erase all of your past financial mistakes sound appealing?

Then this post is for you.

Financial Ethic #5 states:  “We will avoid risky investments and get-rich-quick schemes.” ^[1]   

As we continue to examine this financial ethic, let’s talk about how to deal with the temptation to try to fix our financial problems on our own.

Let me start off by asking you a question:  do you believe that God wants to help you when you’ve made financial mistakes?  I’m not asking if you think He can help you.  I’m asking if you think He’s so upset with what you’ve done wrong, that He’s going to leave you on your own to fix it?  Because unless and until your answers to these questions line up with Biblical truth, you are at risk for going to extreme means to clean up your own messes. 

I was handling the bookkeeping for a large number of bank transactions in our personal finances, and I accidentally posted a $1,000 deposit twice!  Before I realized my error, my husband spent the “extra” thousand dollars.  It was only when the bank contacted me about the account being overdrawn that I realized my mistake.  At the time, we didn’t have extra money in our personal savings, nor did we have access to it anywhere else.  So I could have very easily allowed my sense of guilt to lure me into trying to find a quick fix for my mistake. 

But instead, God stepped in and compelled me to pray. All I can say is that He rescued me by giving us favor with the bank, and He eventually provided the money we needed in ways that only He could! 

2Corinthians 12:9 says:  “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’.”

I understand that having financial problems that are at least partly due to your own mistakes can cause a heavy sense of guilt.  And this guilt may tempt you to take drastic measures to try to right your own wrongs.  But that’s not how God wants to deal with it.  He doesn’t want you to muscle up to try to fix things.  He wants you to acknowledge your weakness, so that you can experience His power. You can do this by practicing these 4 “A’s”: 

1.  Acknowledge your mistakes.  Everybody makes them.  God expects them.  He knows when you’ve made them, so just go ahead and get everything out in the open with Him by confessing them.
2. Admit your temptations.  Since you’re getting everything out in the open with God anyway, go ahead and admit to Him that you don’t want to have to trust Him enough to fix this.  You want to try to do it yourself. Tell Him specifically how you feel tempted to do it yourself (e.g. – making a risky investment, or participating in a get-rich-quick scheme).    
3. Accept His forgiveness.  He forgives you for what you just confessed.  Now say out loud, “I receive your forgiveness.  Thank You, Lord!”
4. Allow His intervention. Personalize the Bible verse above, saying out loud, “Your grace is sufficient for me, for your power is made perfect in my weakness.”  Then invite Him to use His power to rescue you and help your situation. 

Remember what you learned in the last post from Hebrews 13:5 about God promising to never turn His back on you: “ [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

So let’s embrace this Biblical truth:  God wants to be with us in our mistakes.  Not after we’ve fixed them.  He is with us before, during, and after the mistakes are made.  He may not always completely erase the mistakes, but He will never leave us to fix them on our own. 

So the next time you are tempted to go to extreme means to clean up your own financial messes, practice the 4 A’s, and watch God move on your behalf!

“Search My Heart, O God…”

• Ask God to give you faith that He is with you when you make financial mistakes and is willing and able to help you deal with them,  praying

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).