Financial Crisis

We regularly talk about managing our money the way God intended. As Catholics, we are called follow Jesus in every area of our lives – even when it comes to our money and possessions. But what happens when we experience a financial crisis? Do we lose faith when our situation seems hopeless? What should we do? Where can we find God in this situation?

To find the answer, let’s explore two Bible passages where people are in a crisis situation that seems hopeless, yet through their faith in God, they are able to find their way to the light.

Our first story comes from the book of Job. Job was considered by God to be one of his most faithful servants. He was extremely wealthy, possessing 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-donkeys, and an army of servants. Job was also richly blessed in his personal life as his family consisted of seven sons and three daughters.

One day God and Satan were having a conversation about God’s people, and Satan challenged Job’s devotion to God. God allowed Satan to test Job, as long as he did not harm Job himself. In a series of disasters, Job lost everything – his livestock, servants, family, even his health. Job lost everything in an instant.

Many of us would find it hard to have faith in such an overwhelming tragedy. But instead of losing faith, Job fell to the ground and worshiped God, (Job 1:21) “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job understood that everything was given to him by God, and he had faith that God would deliver him from his trials.

Put your self into the second story … your spouse has recently passed away and left you in debt, and you do have not way to pay it back. As collateral for the debt, your husband’s creditors threaten to take your sons as slaves. This is the story from the second book of Kings, Chapter Four, called ‘The Widow’s Oil.’ The woman in this story looked for the help of Elisha, a godly man, to help her. His first question to her was, “What do you have?” The widow said she only had one small jar of oil. Elisha told her to borrow jars from her neighbors and fill the jars with the oil she had. As she poured oil into each jar, each was filled to the brim and the oil ran out only after all the jars were full. She was able to sell the oil to pay off the creditors and keep her children.

Both of these stories are great examples of having enough faith to see your way through tragedy and challenges that seem impossible. So long as we keep God in our hearts he will step into our lives and do great things for us. It is always important to remember that we are stewards, or managers, of the money God entrusts to us. And sometimes our stewardship is short lived.

These stories hit close to home for us because there was a time in our lives where we were in the middle of financial challenges. It was only when we turned to God and learned his way that we were able to recover financially, but more important, become stronger faithfully.

One of the most amazing gifts of this ministry is the knowledge that we are helping others through the same hard times we went through. And remember both Job and the widow were thrown into circumstances they could not anticipate. Even in you are in good financial shape now, what will happen when you face a crisis? Will you have the faith of Job and the widow to help you through it?

Thanks for reading,
The Beans.