Not July 2023
In Psalm 124 it begins "If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side..." with the chapter then speaking of the defeats Israel would have suffered had this not been the case.
The picture above is from July 1993, when my wife Karen and I bought our first home... and signed those dozens of documents everyone does, including the main one (the mortgage) that we promised to make monthly payments over the next 30 years. Like most young couples it was a happy and exciting time, but regarding this home we did not realize that the Lord was going to bring a much happier and much more exciting time to us.
At this time we also carried credit card debt. The first step the Lord led us to for victories in handling finances occurred in 1995, when on New Year's Day I felt the leading that we should make an effort in paying off our credit cards in this calendar year. We moved forward together in this and before that year was out those debts were paid off. That would help set the foundation for what came next.
In February 1998 we attended a community education class titled "Debt-Free & Prosperous Living", where Dan Wieczorek taught a 3-hour class from a textbook of the same name authored by John Commutta. In this class it exposed the real problems with credit and borrowing, supported by sound mathematics. It also showed a proven strategy for attacking debts to pay them off one-by-one. When we left the class the calculations from the materials estimated it would take us about 4 years to be debt-free. (This was better than average, as most households are closer to 7 years)
The materials were great, but what really "clicked" for us was the realization and connection that being free of debt was something spoken of in God's Word - "keep out of debt and owe no man any thing" (Romans 13:8), "the borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7), and many others. I recall saying this in a positive tone to Karen, "we really have to do this" and "this is God's will".
We then chose to fully commit - by taking out all our savings to the last $200 to put towards the mortgage, accepting additional part-time work, and near the end even utilizing 401K savings by taking out our own loan for half of the balance to pay back later. That last action was not mentioned in the textbook, but something we realized was available to us, as we would just take some months off from saving and investing and apply that into the removal of debt.
A few months into it, God chose to suddenly and unexpectedly move on our behalf, unto each of us. Karen worked for the county government, and you probably can guess how structured their pay scale is. Her job classification and pay was instantly changed, resulting in a 15% increase. The owner of our company called me into her office, and she mistakenly wondered if I was happy there (I genuinely was) and seemed concerned, and after assigning me some very minor duties she had given me more than a 10% raise.
That wind of the additional funds blew into our sails, moving us more rapidly through the process each month when our standard mortgage payment was due. As in addition to the required amount we would be paying several extra months of principal and even a year of principal in some payments.
We had challenges too, including the need for a new furnace, but God continued to bless our efforts. The rapidity of removing debt continued and in November 1999 we were within reach. We had a cashier's check cut for the final remaining balance of the mortgage, and since the mortgage company was local, we had the privilege, excitement and testimony to share with them of being able to come in person and present the last check to them.
This was a tremendous victory, but it would not have occurred without the continued encouragement of God's Word and Him blessing us and moving on our behalf.
In the middle verses of Ephesians 5 it speaks of walking in wisdom, understanding the will of the Lord and redeeming the time, and it was meant to cover a broad range of areas. I have felt more connected to those verses after seeing what God did for us. Karen and I feel as though we had 23 years given back to us... 23 years that we did not have to make those payments, as this month - July 2023, would have been the date of the final payment had we gone about it the "traditional" way.
If this topic gets you thinking "I would like this to happen for our household" or "I want to experience this too", I encourage you to take your next step and to contact the church and attend a future Debt-Free & Prosperous Living class that Karen and I teach. The class is free.
Let's conclude with what was written in the last two verses of that first scripture reference at the beginning of this post - Psalm 124, as that is how Karen and I have felt God's blessing, and you can too:
We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
God Bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
