PRACTICAL STEPS TO GETTING OUT OF DEBT:
2 Kings 4:1-7 NLT
[1] One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.” [2] “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. [3] And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. [4] Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” [5] So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. [6] Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. [7] When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
God’s desire for you and I is debt-free living. As we see in our key scripture today, God did something about this widow of the dead Prophet’s situation. Through Elisha, His servant, He helped this woman to pay off her ex-husband’s debts, plus providing her with capital to live on for the rest of her life. May the Lord do the same for you and I in Jesus’s name. Amen!
From these few verses, we discover some practical lessons and steps we have to take if we are to get God’s help in getting out of debt.
We must never ignore debt. We must take responsibility for the debt and desire to resolve it. If we are not sincere in getting out of debt, God cannot help us.
We must seek God until He responds and shows us the way out.
We must understand that God would often work with us in paying off our debts. That is why it is important for us to commit ourselves to coming out of debt as the priority in our lives.
We must faithfully follow God’s instructions in using the proceeds of business opportunities and financial increases He brings to us in paying off our debts. We must remember to bring our tithes first. Even though it is not mentioned here, it must be assumed because the Jews were thought to tithe everything.
Lastly, we must treat what remains as capital to keep reinvesting to generate constant income to live on. Some of the increases that God brings will and must remain if we are not wasteful, but remember to put away one-fifth of all our increases (Genesis 41:25-36).
Let us also remember what God’s word tells us in ……
Luke 16:10-12 NLT
[10] “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. [11] And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? [12] And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
Do you truly want to get out of debt? Commit yourself to God’s plan or have a plan of your own in place.