God’s Comfort When Finances Fall Apart

This faith and finance podcast is underwritten in part by Christian Credit Counselors. If you're struggling with credit card debt but don't know where to start, our trusted partner Christian Credit Counselors offers a debt management program that can get you out of credit card debt 80% faster while honoring your debt in full. Contact them to get out of debt today at ChristianCreditCounselors.org. The late Tim Keller once said, First Peter 5-7 reminds us of God's love for us in the midst of life's troubles.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. It's a reassuring verse, but you must know the context to understand God's comfort fully. The Apostle Peter wrote his letters to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor. Many of them were being persecuted.

discriminated against, and even murdered because of their faith in Jesus. In these hardships, Peter told his readers to But Peter's words contain the secret of God's comfort. It begins with humility. You can probably think of a time when you were going along just fine and out of the blue something awful happened like the death of a loved one, a business failure, a car accident, or even a job loss.

These tragedies can have severe emotional, physical, and financial consequences. So how do you usually react when bad things happen? Well, maybe you feel anxious and say that's not how things were supposed to go. Or you might feel angry and discouraged thinking nothing good can ever come of this.

If this sounds like you, you're in good company. Whether you read the book of Psalms and see David praying laments before God, or see Job questioning God during the unfair trials he faced, we have this beautiful truth. God can handle our raw, honest emotions.

Like David and Job in these difficult circumstances, we need to continually be reminded that God is mighty, loving, and perfectly capable of running the universe. As worshippers, we're not called to deny our pain, but instead offer it to the only one who can do anything about it. When we bring our grief into God's presence, we gain perspective. It's a perspective that rises above the storm. It's a perspective that sees the Son of Man standing alongside you in the fire. There's another idea in this passage that can help us when we struggle. It's the part that says God will lift us up in due time. In other words, God is sovereign, and there is always hope. We can trust God's timing, even if it doesn't match our expectations. God is working things out for our good and His glory.

You know, sometimes it's not enough just to listen to a radio program. The struggles in your life hit you hard, and you need more. I hope you'll spend some extra time reading God's Word, pray, find out what God wants to teach you through your struggles, spend time with other believers encouraging each other. Now, the next few verses in 1 Peter 5 explain why these spiritual disciplines are so important. 1 Peter 5, 8 reads, This passage reminds us of the spiritual battle going on all around us.

Suffering can make us even more vulnerable to Satan's attacks. He tries to make us believe we can do life without God, but Peter tells us to resist his lies. Bible study, fellowship, and prayer will help you stand firm in the faith. Trust the Lord that He has a good reason for what you're going through right now.

Returning to the late Tim Keller, he reminds us that if we knew what God knows, we would ask exactly for what He gives. So, when your finances fall apart, here's how to find real, deep, lasting comfort. Set aside your expectations for how things should be. Humble yourself and confess your pride. Acknowledge God's right to be the Lord in every situation. Rest in the hope that God works all things out for your ultimate good. List the things you're worried about or afraid of in this time of trouble.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you, and stand firm in your faith. In Romans 5, 3 through 5, Paul reveals that God uses hardships to make us more like Christ, a very good thing. It reads, We also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. All right, your calls are next.

800-525-7000. Every day we hear life-changing stories from listeners just like you who see money and possessions as tools to invite more people into God's kingdom. Instead of chasing wealth, you've chosen to embrace God as your source of love and provision.

At Faithfi, we're passionate about meeting people where they live and work through our national radio program, app, resources, and website to influence widespread positive change in our culture. Please consider becoming a monthly partner at faithfi.com slash give. We are grateful for support from Praxis Mutual Funds. Praxis Mutual Funds has seven impact strategies that are designed to create positive real-world change. More information is available at praxismutualfunds.com. The fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses are contained in the prospectus and summary prospectus. This and other information is available at praxismutualfunds.com. Investments involve risk.

Principal loss is possible. Foresight Fund Services, LLC. Glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance.

My name is Rob West. I'm your host. We're going to take your calls and questions for the remainder of the program. Looking forward to hearing what's on your mind financially today.

800-525-7000. Our hope and prayer is that we can be an encouragement to you, help you pursue God's best as you manage and steward the resources that he has entrusted to you. That's a high calling. And we recognize that money and the things that money can buy have the potential to compete with God for first position in our lives. The world would have us to believe that our longing for abundance and satisfaction and purpose can be found in the things of this world. It's a lie.

It can't. And we know that only that will be satisfied in Jesus Christ as we pursue God and God's economy and see money as a tool to accomplish his purposes. We know that we have an abundance before even the first dollar. And so how do we bring all that under the Lordship of Christ and live with contentment and generosity as hallmarks of our financial lives?

Well, it's only when we renew our minds through Scripture and we encourage one another along the way. And that's a key part of what we want to do on this program each day. So with those practical financial questions you have today, we'd love for you to call 800-525-7000.

We'll tackle them together. By the way, if you have a testimony of how God has been at work in your financial life and you'd like to share that with us, maybe this program has been an encouragement to you, we'd love you to share that as well. 800-525-7000. I mentioned a testimony and it sounds like we have one of those to kick the program off today. Michelle is calling from New York. Michelle, glad to have you with us. Go ahead.

Thank you so much for taking my testimony and praises be. In January, I called the show to ask what we are vacillating between paying off the mortgage for rental property or the student loans. And ultimately you said it's no bad decision, but you advised for the student loans.

But in the call, I didn't tell you that it was a rental property. So I go home, tell my husband and he said, call back. So I called back and Ms. Sharon Evans was on the show and she said ultimately it's no right or wrong way if you're trying to pay it off and live debt free. But, you know, we'll go with the student loans. I talked to my husband.

We've had the mortgage since we've been married for 12 years and the student loans are only two years old. And he said, remember when we got married, we said we wanted this house paid off. And I am here to tell you that about five minutes ago, I just hung up with Wells Fargo making our final pay off mortgage payment.

Come on. So our home is free and clear now. How does that feel, Michelle? I'm giddy.

Like, oh, my goodness. You know, and it's been a journey, but steadfastness, focused and having a partner that we can really be honest and talk to each other about it. Even though we were in this journey of living debt free, we were still able to do some of the fun things for our children over spring break.

And oh, this event is coming up. We were still able to live and pay off this mortgage and put all of our additional resources to these lump sum payments. And so I just wanted to thank you for your wisdom and guidance, because I listen to you every day, every single day. Well, Michelle, I mean, you and your husband are illustrating what it is we talk about here on this program all the time. First of all, we recognize it's not ours. It all belongs to the Lord. Second, that we have a role as a steward in managing those resources. And that when we start with our faith and allow our faith and our values given to us by God to then inform the goals that we set, we understand the longer term, the perspective, the better the decision we can make today. And so you all had real clarity about where you were going and why. And that allowed you to make some sacrifices in the short term, even though I love what you said about still having some enjoyment. I think that's very biblical and what God has provided and even celebrating along the way.

But you stayed laser focused on where you were ultimately headed. And now you're going to experience the fruit that comes from being unencumbered, being able to follow the leading of the Lord. You know, as you now have more money to recapture in your budget, probably helps you balance it a little better, but maybe even have a little bit more margin to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in giving and generosity. And that's what it's all about. You know, it's not being able to necessarily just check a box and look at what we've accomplished in our financial life.

It's really about pursuing the heart of God and seeing the money as a tool to do that. And you guys are perfect examples of that. So listen, congratulations. I'm so delighted that you called to share this with us because I know that you're an encouragement to somebody else. So what would you say before we let you go today to somebody listening today who maybe can't see how they can do this, but they share your heart's desire.

What encouragement might you give to them to pursue the same objective? I would say if you're married, have honest, clear communication with your spouse. And if you're having any struggles with money, talk to your spouse about it. And if you're single, I would say make sure your goals are something that you could see every day.

Find a partner in faith that can keep you encouraged on your goals, because that's something my husband often will remind me. We're encouraged, you know. Okay, so we're not going to the movies, but we have plenty of streaming services in the house.

We can make it fun in the house or whatever the case may be. So just stay focused. Those little things that you're doing is adding up to you reaching your goals.

That's so good. Well, listen, congratulations. Tell your husband we're thrilled for the two of you. And please call back along the way. You've been a delight to talk to today. God bless you, Michelle. Thanks for being on the program. 800-525-7000. Boy, that doesn't ever get old.

And what a joy to be able to celebrate with her as she today made her last mortgage payment. That thing is gone. Let's go to Oklahoma. Hi, Mike.

Go ahead. Hey, Rob. I got a question about refinancing a mortgage. I got a 30-year.

It's a little over six because of a family situation. I actually bought a little sooner than I wanted. I'm happy with the property. But with the interest and the escrow, probably 80 percent or more of my monthly bill is going to interest and not to the principal. And I got a question about trying to get rid of some of that interest rate.

Yeah. The challenge is you're you're not going to be able to do that in this environment, Mike. I mean, 30 year rates right now are at seven and a half. You know, if you're looking at a 15 year rate, you could get that down, you know, maybe to six and three quarters. But even then, you're still above where you're at now. You know, I would typically say I'd want you to have a minimum of a point and a half below where you're at, preferably two.

So that's somewhere between four and a half and five. And I'd want you to stay in that property for at least five years beyond that. Plus, you're also resetting the amortization when you do that, which means, you know, in the in the first portion of the mortgage, you know, far more is going to interest than principal. And so, you know, if you had a 30 year mortgage, you've been in it a couple of years, I'd probably want you to at the very least pay it like it was a 27 or 28 year amortization, even if you did a new 30. But I still think you're a ways off from being able to do this in a way that makes sense, just because I don't expect interest rates to be back at five or lower anytime soon, probably a couple of years at the soonest. Okay, so basically, all I could do is just pay on the principal to get it down.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, that's not gonna I mean, that's gonna save you interest, because obviously, every extra dollar you reduce the principal is $1 that you're not paying interest on for the next 29 years or whatever you have. So yeah, if you could focus on sending a little bit extra every month, maybe you set a goal to send, you know, a payment a year, I mean, whatever you can do is going to save you in the long run. It's not going to help you in terms of cash flow, because, you know, until the mortgage is completely gone, you know, you'll still have the same payment, even if you accelerate it.

So it doesn't help the cash flow, but it will help with the total outlay of interest over the life of the loan. Does that make sense? That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Absolutely, Mike. Thanks for your call. We've got lines open. Call right now, 800-525-7000.

Back with much more after this. If you enjoy this radio program, you're going to love all of the many different resources waiting for you at faithfi.com and the Faithfi app. You'll find powerful wisdom, free podcasts, articles, videos, and more from leading voices such as Randy Alcorn, Howard Dayton, Ron Blue, and our own Rob West. Grow in wisdom and knowledge by connecting with a community of thousands of Christians striving to be good and faithful stewards at faithfi.com or by downloading the Faithfi app. If the heavy burden of debt is robbing you of freedom and peace of mind, Christian credit counselors can help. We're a nationwide nonprofit credit counseling organization that has helped over 300,000 individuals in the last 27 years get out of credit card debt 80 percent faster while honoring that debt in full. To learn how Christian credit counselors can help you visit christiancreditcounselors.org.

That's christiancreditcounselors.org or call 800-557-1985. Great to have you with us today on faith and finance. Looks like all the lines are full, so we'll take as many calls as we can between now and the end of the program. Let's go out to Georgia.

Charles, you're up next, sir. Go ahead. Yes, sir, you can. You wouldn't be able to get both, but what would happen is you can apply for social security disability insurance benefits after you've begun receiving early benefits based on your work record. And then you can also claim the SSDI benefit retroactively if you discover an existing condition that could have qualified you for those benefits earlier. So I would absolutely go ahead and apply for those SSDI benefits now, even though you're already collecting early retirement benefits, okay? Okay, so I would have to go back to the Social Security office and reapply. That's correct. You're going to need to apply for those SSDI benefits separately, and they're going to have to make sure that you qualify based on the condition that you have, but if you do, then you can switch over to the SSDI benefits, which may be higher, would likely be higher.

And you can even get retroactive benefits if you had an existing condition that could have qualified you for those benefits earlier, and that's just going to depend on whether you qualify or not. Okay, thank you. Okay, Charles, God bless you, sir. We appreciate you being on the program.

Let's head to Texas. Hi, Mark. Go ahead, sir. How you doing, buddy? Good to talk to you. I know you're running out of time here.

Try to make it short and sweet. Me, I'm 58. My wife is 62.

She has 20 years of military. She is at the age she can pull her investments through the TSP, which is about $230,000, because I'm driving, so I don't have the numbers exactly in front of me. We're concerned about just being debt-free, and really all we have is the mortgage and the property. We owe about 220 after they pull taxes.

If we cash this all in, we're looking at about 197. We do have the cash and other resources and other investments to finish off paying that off and getting that clear, but me being one, I'm a pretty aggressive one in the family, but I always like seeing those accounts full. So I guess my question is, is it advisable to go ahead and get rid of that? Because I know it's going to save the 4% interest. I know it's going to save thousands of dollars on the back end. And of course, that money, I could put all that money right back in my monthly payments into another investment instead of making a mortgage payment.

Do you advise that? Because I own a small company, five years of business, we're doing very well with our VA benefits and retirements. I don't have to work. I do it because I want to. So it's not like it's going to put us in a pinch. Yeah, got it. It's a great question, Mark. And here's my thought on that. First of all, you know, there's a financial side to this. And then there's the non-financial side. The non-financial side is, you know, if you're completely out of debt, there is certainly peace of mind that comes with that being unencumbered, being able to be more free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit without, you know, having to think about the debt and so forth.

And so I would say if you or your wife or you and your wife together have just a real conviction from the Lord to be debt free, then I'd say, absolutely, we can do this. And what I would probably do is spread it out over two tax years, maybe pull half this year and half next year. And that way you're not pushing any portion of it, at least as little as possible, up into a higher tax bracket.

Because you're only adding, let's say, $100,000 this year in income and $100,000 next year rather than $200,000 all in one year. And the good news is that regardless of what happens with the presidential election in November, we know that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Trump's tax cuts that are currently in place, don't expire until the end of 2025. So they won't go up until 2026 at the earliest and maybe they'll be extended, especially if he wins.

Well, only if he wins, but even if he doesn't, you know, you have two more years of these lower taxes. So that would be the way that I would go. Now, from a financial standpoint, I actually would prefer you not do this. You have a low interest rate. I mean, it's not two or three, but four is still low, especially in light of today's interest rates.

You guys have time on your side. I mean, if the Lord tarries and if he doesn't, it doesn't matter. If he does and you're in good health, you guys might need this money to last another three decades or more. And so you keeping that money in a tax-deferred environment in the TSP, or even if you roll it to an IRA, it's sheltering the taxes. So if you think about the rain is the taxes and you've got the umbrella over the TSP or the IRA, the taxes have no impact on the investments.

And so they're free to grow. Now, you'll pay the tax when the money comes out someday, but maybe not if you do a qualified charitable distribution. But even then, it's not going to hinder the growth of the investments, which if you were to pay off the mortgage and then start taking that mortgage payment and investing it, now you've got it in a taxable environment. So every time you sell a stock or a mutual fund for a gain, you're going to have to pay capital gains tax.

That's not the case in that TSP. And so I would say let's keep it invested. And because people are living longer, you know, even at 62, I still want you guys to have at least 50 percent of this in stocks and maybe the other 50 percent in bonds. And if you do that over the long haul, meaning over a decade, you should be able to annualize a return pretty significantly higher than that four percent, which means you're not losing any money. Because, you know, if you're making six or seven or eight percent a year annualized, you know, even without any tax, you may be close to or more than doubling the interest that you're paying on the mortgage. But I've thrown a lot at you there.

Give me your thoughts. No, man, that's good. I didn't think about that side of the house as far as the interest rates, because in the TSP, the last the last quarter, she bought in somewhere around 13 percent on that TSP. So I see I see the back side of that.

That makes perfect sense. Now, if you go home and you say Rob said we're not paying off the mortgage and she says, wait a minute, I want to pay off the mortgage, you have to also tell her that I said, listen, if you guys just pray about it, you have a real conviction to be debt free, then go for it and don't look back. But if you're comfortable hanging on to the mortgage, you know, you don't love it, but you're comfortable with it.

Then I think at that point, it does make sense financially for you guys to keep that money invested, keep paying down that mortgage out of current cash flow, which it sounds like you have plenty of and and just pay it off over time and not pull that money out of the tax deferred environment. OK, thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

All right, Mark. Hey, thank you and your wife for your service to our country. We're incredibly grateful. We appreciate you being on the program, folks. So we're so glad to have you along with us today. We covered a lot of ground, but always look forward to being invited into your stories and taking you back to God's word and helping you consider your financial decisions in light of sound biblical wisdom. I hope you have a great week. Let me say thanks to my team today.

Certainly couldn't do this without him. Jim Henry, Devin Patrick and Robert Youngblood handling our phones today here on faith and finance. We want to bring you God's wisdom for managing your financial decisions. You can learn more and listen to our broadcast archives when you head to faith by dot com. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and we'll see you next time. Bye bye. Faith and finance is provided by faith by and listeners like you.