I’ve spent a lot of time praying about finances. I’ve contemplated the line between wisdom and folly when borrowing money to buy a home. The struggle is real. When we began to search for the first home we bought, I had a thought that God didn’t want us to have a mortgage. I’m sad to report that the idea of that was so outside of my brain space that I heard, but couldn’t navigate obedience in that.
I had no grid for how that could ever be possible.
In hindsight, I often wish I’d listened and heard instead of simply going along with the cultural norm.
A few years ago, God told me we would be debt free. We lost our income that very day. That alone convinced me that I was hearing the Lord. He told me in order to encourage me that life would continue. It was a promise I held to when we felt like we’d never make it. since then, it’s been our buoy in the rough waters of life.
I’d be lying if I said that at times in our journey through the last few years, I didn’t find the debt free word cruel. But it’s never been about what I think, it’s about what’s real. God said it, I believe Him.
Now, for the last few months I’ve been hearing this…Don’t owe anyone. Not even a mortgage.
Since that I’ve been praying and believing for that very thing. All debts paid in full, including mortgages. Sounds crazy, I know. But it’s what He said. To furth prove the point, I came across this scripture in my daily Bible reading recently…
Owe nothing to anyone- except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. Romans 13:8
Owe nothing to anyone…
I believe God is making a point.
This word may bother some of you, but all I’m asking is that you take it to God and ask Him what He has to say about it. Maybe yes, maybe no. But the scripture is clear…owe nothing to anyone…so I’m devoting myself to finding a way to live in accordance with that.
Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7
I believe it’s time for believers to reconsider a few things. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it doesn’t change the Word of God. It’s also further evidence of how much we have acquiesced to the ways of the world…on more issues than we imagined.
365 Days in the Presence 