I understand the philosophy of this statement “When the going gets tough – give.” But I don’t know if I could find a verse in the Bible that states that.  It is usually implied to give financially or to donate time.  It would seem to be something that sounded good because of the lack of Biblical understanding. I understand you cannot outgive God, but if you are broke or close to it, is the best use of your remaining funds to give it away instead of feeding your family? It could be IF that is what God told you to do!

Giving should come from a thankful heart — a heart desiring to honor God for all He has done for you as His child.  God says he loves a cheerful giver rather than a desperate soul giving to get money to pay for rent or other bills. That is not to say that God will not help, but we do not have to buy his help.

First, it might be good to study God’s Word to see what  He has “REALLY said about money and finances. Then ask Him for wisdom as to what to do in your situation.  As you are looking/waiting for that wisdom, you might read some articles or books or listen to some podcasts by other good, knowledgeable Christian authors on finances.  Then see what rings a bell in your heart as to what to do.

Secondly, if we start at the beginning of the problem, the following are some sound thoughts.

One author I read said this, “Generally, being short on cash means that you either are not planning well, or you are not sticking to your budget each month. This is especially true if you are consistently running out of money each month.”

So, if you don’t have a budget, you might think of starting one.  Some people find a system of cash envelopes works well, in the beginning, to learn not to spend more than what is allocated.  There are a good many books and websites that can give you great examples of how to do a budget.

It takes some desire to get out of the messes we create in our lives because of our lack of understanding about money — especially biblical understanding. Many ideas and principles found in our culture or Christianity, are the opposite of what God says in His Word. 

After we went bankrupt, the first thing we did was start an emergency fund.  We used that fund many times.  It was disheartening to have to spend it after we had saved that money. BUT, because of the emergency fund, we did not have to put anything on a credit card.  We were able to pay in cash. That was different!

Every time we saved up about $1,500.00, we would have an emergency. The refrigerator went out and then the transmission needed to be rebuilt.  It seemed like an endless cycle, but God says resist the devil, and he will flee.  So, we just kept putting the money in the fund and did not quit.  One day we noticed we no longer had emergencies come up. It took a while. Then the emergency began to grow was past the $1,500.00.

Many financial gurus recommend 3-6 months to a year’s worth of living expenses in your emergency fund. You really have no idea what the future holds.

Some may say that we should just believe God to meet our needs day by day and not store away money. But God says only fools spend all they bring in which implies the wise do not spend it all – they save some.

If saving is not Biblical, when you get to heaven, talk to Joseph.  He saved for seven years.  You could ask yourself, why is that record in the Bible if saving is wrong?

Saved money needs to be assigned to certain jobs, not just stored in a lump.  Thus, an emergency fund – to spend only in an emergency!  That is its assignment. You might have many different funds:  a college fund, a car replacement, gifts, medical, retirement, etc. These funds have a designated purpose. This takes a certain amount of discipline, but what you have been doing does not work, so start over.

On our journey of learning, we also had a slush fund made up of loose change and any cash that came our way.  It was never used to pay for monthly bills.  At one point my wife wanted to use the slush fund to pay the mortgage payment because we were broke.  I said NO!  This is what we had always done.  We would save money and then spend it on a monthly bill when we had a cash shortage.  I told her that this habit cannot possibly be what God intended The Prosperous Life to be like because we were always starting over. For us, this was a turning point in our understanding of The Prosperous Life. We did get the bill paid and did not touch the slush fund.

That money was used to buy things that were not part of the budget, which would normally have gone on a credit card. We were able to give money to our son to buy a suit for a job interview, buy a camper shell, get a new mattress and box springs, etc. The more we contributed to the slush fund and used it that way, the faster it got replenished.  It was quite a relief because we no longer used credit cards.  We now have debit cards instead.  I understand they are not as secure and have other drawbacks, but we had to learn to stop spending what we did not have.

One of the things we learned by reading is that if people lose a job, they don’t cut back their lifestyle much and quickly run out of money.  So, if you just lost your job, cut out ALL unnecessary expenses immediately.  The reserves you have will last much longer.  Perhaps cut back until you find another source of income. This is not fear, it is wise.  God tells us to walk circumspectly as wise not as fools.

Understanding some of these ideas can help keep you out of the cash crunch scenario!

Third, if you find yourself in a cash crunch, what can you do immediately?

Get a sign that says, “will work for food,” and stand on a street corner! (Just kidding!)

Go through your garage, your house, or storage and sell old stuff on Facebook, eBay, or Craigslist.  It is good to lighten the load anyway, and it is better to have the money than having all that junk just collecting dust.

Have a garage sale, and price the stuff to sell.

You can babysit or dog sit.  This may not be your new career, but it can bring in some quick cash when you are desperately short.

If you have saved an emergency fund, you can dip into it.

Get a temporary job where you get paid in tips.  That will give you some money on the same day.

Sell plasma if you need the money fast.

If you have some additional unnecessary expenses, consider giving them up for a while.

Rent out a room in your house.

Find an additional source of income. Work two part-time jobs if you need to. Give and then go to work.

Many people believe negatively about their income during certain times of the year or around certain events.  For instance:  Work always slows down in the fall, or around the holidays, or just after the holidays or in the summertime.  This is what they believe and confess and what is true for them.  Don’t listen.  Ultimately, God is your source of supply.  He is the one that causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. He is just as able to supply you with jobs or a job at any time of the year.

Fourth, pray.

This should have been first, most likely. Pray. Make your requests known to God, He is your Father and is keenly interested in your life. Expect him to deliver you, to supply you with all that you need in every situation at every time of the year.

If you need more work, every morning pray and ask God for more work and then look for it to come to pass.  Take the downtime to clean up your truck, tidy up your books and get prepared because the jobs are coming, and you want to be ready.

If you need a job, every morning pray and ask God where to look, where to apply, and you might ask Him what kind of a side business would be good until the job comes. Look around and expect Him to supply and show you what to do.

All of this is learning to walk with God, learning how to manifest The Prosperous Life He desires for us to have.

When the going gets tough – pray, double down, think and go to work!