Power in the Process
Lately, I have received several emails from people wanting to become debt free – I want to share some of my debt freedom story with you, as well as Kelita’s.
For me, nothing happened over night. It was a process that God led me through, and I had to remain faithful in the process, to the every end. The first thing God led me to do was save $1,000 for an emergency fund. That, as I said, was a few years ago, I am not sure that same one thousand dollars would go as far today.
I remember when He first gave me this instruction, as a single female with only one income, it seemed difficult if not impossible. But I set about doing what He said. Looking back it wasn’t as hard as I first thought and before I knew it, I had my emergency fund.
The next thing I did was I began to sow seeds for debt cancellation. I did this each and every month until all my debts were paid in full.
I had a couple credit cards and one large debt from a previous business. I also had a vehicle payment. I began to make extra payments on the debts – each and every month – some months I couldn’t do a lot, but I always did something. I prayed and asked God to bring in monies to get rid of the debts and He was faithful to do that. BUT when the money came in, I had to be faithful to put it toward my debt. It’s easy at times like that to feel that a little won’t make a difference, but every little bit helped, and I could watch the balance coming down. I didn’t wait until I had a large amount to apply to my debt, I put every extra penny I had toward it. I cut back on some things and I even did extra work to help the process along. Eventually, the credit card debts were gone, and I only had my vehicle payment left.
I didn’t think, “Oh, I have two debts paid off, now I have extra money each month.” No, I took that extra money and put it toward my vehicle, month after month – until it was paid in full.
Today, the only debt I have is my home and I am working the same process toward paying it off. I sow seeds toward debt cancellation to other people and I pay extra on my house payment every time I make a payment. If there is a day God prompts me to pay on it, even if it is an odd day, or even if I have just made a payment, I get online and pay on it. I believe God is going to help me to get rid of this debt just like He has the others.
Now, that’s my story – but here is the back story. When God first began to prompt me to get those debts paid off, I sowed seed. As I sowed seed, I expected God to bring money into my hands in one lump sum to pay off my debts – that is not how it happened.
As I thought about this, God led me to a scripture in the Old Testament…
Exodus 23:30 says, Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.
By this I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. Neither would it all be removed at once. Now, I am not saying God can’t do that, He certainly can. I only knew it wasn’t going to happen that way for me. However, there were times, as I was faithful in the little that came into my hands, that He would bring a big chunk, which helped me to reach my goal quicker than I thought. Little by little, God, (with me cooperating) drove those debts out of my life.
While it didn’t happen immediately, it wasn’t a long, drawn-out process either. It was just long enough to teach me a valuable lesson – stay out of debt.
As a society, we have come to believe we can’t have anything without debt. I don’t believe that is true. We can have a vehicle, home furnishings, nice vacations and even a home, without going into debt. However, we must be willing to inquire of the Lord and do it His way.
We also must learn to be patient and diligent in the process. There is a great revelation that can be gained through it all. For me, I became more diligent to pray about everything that involves money. Recently, I was cooking one morning and my oven caught fire. My first thought was that I would have to buy a new stove. But, I didn’t rush out and get one. Instead I prayed and ask God what He would have me do. He instructed me to call a repairman and get it fixed. Which I did. Yes, it would have been nice to have a new stove, but that is not what God said to do, so I didn’t.
I also wanted, but not needed, a rug for my living room. I found the one I wanted a few months ago. I went to buy it but didn’t feel it was time. So, I went home and I prayed about it. I felt I was supposed to wait. That week something came up that I needed extra money for, and I had it, without dipping into my savings, because I waited on the rug. Today, when I woke up, God said, “go buy your rug!” I did and I love it. Most of all, I love that I waited on Him.
You see, through the process I learned more than just getting out of debt – I learned the value of inquiring of the Lord each time finances are concerned. I can’t tell you the peace I have found in that.
All of us have heard or read about stories where people had immediate debt cancellation by the Lord. I think that is awesome – I would LOVE that – but what do we do if it doesn’t happen that way for us? Do we conclude God doesn’t want us out of debt? No! God wants us out of debt. Perhaps, God wants to drive debt out of your life, little by little, as you trust Him along the way and as you continue to obey His leading.
Looking back, I am thankful for the way God did it for me. There are things I learned that I couldn’t have learned any other way. I learned to sow into others who needed a debt paid. I learned to be faithful in finances, week after week, month after month, year after year. And…I learned to inquire of the Lord, no matter how big or small the need.
The Bible says, “let patience have its perfect work, so that in the end, you are complete, lacking nothing.” It also says if we are faithful in little God will make us ruler over much. God took my little and brought me out of debt – He wants to do the same for you.
Now, let me share a portion of Kelita’s story with you…
I shared with Kim in 2022 how the Lord led me to pay off my car that year. At the time I owed $11,600. Let me recap:
In 2021, the Lord gave me a strategy to pay off my car. I have an account where I put what I call “stash” money. It is not money in our monthly budget, and I would use it for extras. As I was building it up, I heard the idea “Why not save up in increments of $1000 and chunk on your car?” This intrigued me. See, most of my life, it seemed silly to put small amounts towards debt because it never seemed to get very far and honestly, I had a hard time planning for the future. But this was the strategy God gave me, probably because initially, I could not see that small amounts made a difference. In my mind, I needed it to be a substantial amount. However, I still didn’t do it right away because the economy was bleak, and I kept thinking what if we needed that money?
Then, in February of 2022, someone called me and said that the Lord had instructed them to pay a car payment for me. And the idea came again. I looked in my account, and after putting away small amounts here and there, I had enough to put $1000 with the extra payment and that is how it all started. (now, this is just the strategy God gave me, but He met me and showed me in my thinking that I did not have to have large amounts as you will see…)
In March I had been given two side jobs, that I was content to do for free, and I ended up being paid $2500 and I put that on my car, that was a big chunk, but it wasn’t always or not even often, that way. Then, I would log in to my account almost weekly. If I had an extra $10, I would pay it, and extra $50, or whatever the amount. Sometimes I would pay the last four of the balance – like $18.37, or whenever I got anything extra, such as an overpayment of insurance, or a refund of some sort. As I am looking at my payments in May alone, I paid $6.36, $37.16, $2.84, $50.37, etc. I kept doing this and I got to August 1. On that day, the balance was $3,496.00 and I was ecstatic! I looked for money…in my savings, in my checking, in my stash, and I received another $201 to pay from a friend. On August 13, it was down to $2976.00!!!!! So excited, I decided I had to share it with my husband. I had wanted to surprise him, but I just couldn’t keep it quiet any longer. When I shared it with him, I got the shock of my life! His response was – if I sold my motorcycle, we could pay it off. WHAT????? He loved that bike!
We advertised it online. I texted Kim and asked for agreement and we agreed that it would sell NOW. I got a text from a friend who had seen the ad about 15 minutes later. She said she and her husband wanted it at the same time Kim and I were agreeing! CASH! I took the money the very next day and PAID OFF MY CAR. $11,598.37 in 7.5 months, less than one year! LOOK WHAT the LORD has DONE! It all started with obedience and incremental amounts.
The Bible says little is much when God is in it! (Matt. 14:17) All those small amounts I put towards my car…. all the extra seed I was given (God gives seed to the sower!) I was able to recognize it as seed and sow! This is so important. Do you know how many times I have eaten my seed???? I also continued to give offerings, breakthrough offerings, prime the pump offerings, etc. Sometimes they were $7, sometimes $50 – whatever the Lord put on my heart.
The small amounts grew and once I realized the truth of sowing and giving, it did not matter how small the amount was! I did not have to wait until I accumulated $1000, I sowed whenever and whatever I could! God is faithful!
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. Mark 4:26
I know this partner letter won’t speak to ALL of you, but I do believe it will speak to MANY of you. Are you longing to be debt free? If so, partner with God and walk with Him into a place of debt freedom, this very year!
First, inquire of the Lord for His plan for you. Then, if He leads you to, sow a seed for debt freedom. Sow into a ministry that is a blessing to you OR sow into someone else’s debt. Finally, whatever He tells you to do – do it. Be faithful even if you only have a little to work with. God will take your little and bring you out of debt. Not only that, but He will teach you valuable lessons all along the way.
Know this…as you sow your seed this month, we are declaring YOU ARE DEBT FREE IN 2023!!! May each of us experience total and complete debt freedom this year!
