However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the face and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

 

When times are tough and money is tight, disagreements often erupt. And when discussions take place, almost always we are quick to inform the other person that the mess belongs on the other side of the disagreement. A word that prominently figures is the personal pronoun you, as in “YOU are responsible for this mess,” or “If YOU hadn’t spent so much on that stupid car we wouldn’t be in trouble.” Another variation is “YOU charged too much on our credit cards.”

 

Seldom do you hear phrases like, “I’m responsible for the mess we are in!” Or, “I did it. I admit it, it’s all my fault!”

 

When times are tough and money is tight, we tend to blame each other, and, on occasion, we get tired of blaming each other and blame God. Placing the blame on Him is a great deal more dangerous than blaming your husband or wife, because no matter how loud the person may be to whom you are married, his volume can’t be compared to an even soft clap of thunder, and no matter how animated the fireworks, it can’t be compared to a high-voltage burst of lightning that rips across the sky.

 

You have to have a long arm to fight God, but some people try, quickly blaming Him for their financial problems, forgetting that it was not God who spent the family budget, but God gets the blame for not sending more money to tide them over the long weekend of financial drought.

 

Those of us who tend to place the blame for problems on either other people or God, fail to acknowledge the two greatest sources of strength and help: first, our Heavenly Father, and then our family, the ones who are closest to us in times of need and crisis. Long ago David cried out, “…when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2, KJV).

 

There are times when we are not completely responsible for our financial woes. True, you didn’t know that the economy would be poor, or you didn’t know that your job was going to play out on you, or you didn’t know that your income was going to be cut, but it did happen. Certainly if you had known you would have done things differently. But God knew all of that. Nothing that happened took him by surprise, so you can turn to Him for direction and strength. But whatever you do, don’t turn on Him or on each other.

 

Difficult times are like a catalyst that can produce strength and character, or like the teeth of the saw that tears you apart. Take time to turn to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, and read the prayer of this man whose world was disintegrating, and thus he ended his prayer with these words, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:17,18). And there you have it!

 

Frankly, you may be faced with a difficult situation right now, one that may not have been of your making whatsoever. There’s help and there is hope because there is God. To His children who struggled as do some today, God said, “…Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10b). There is no better way to go!

 

Resource reading: Habakkuk 3:16-19.