By Renewing Your Strength, a series designed to investigate some of the chief passages in the Bible relating to the strength, peace, and inner calmness that Christians are to cultivate. In such a series as this, it doesn't take very long to bump into the subject of our personal finances, because much of our stress is related to money issues.
People often find themselves under financial pressure through no fault of their own.
Sometimes we do the very best we can to handle our money and to provide for our families, only to find the breaks going against us. We lose a job, or we face an illness, or our car blows a transmission. At other times, our financial problems may be brought on by mismanagement. Last year in America, over 2 billion unsolicited approved credit card applications were sent out from one end of the country to the other, most of these cards charging between 18 and 22 percent on accrued balances. We get home equity loans and bet our very houses on our dubious abilities to manage our credit cards.