What to Do When You're Drowning in Debt
Debt is never only a math problem; it steals your sleep and loads on shame, convincing you to hide instead of ask for help. This episode looks at what God offers a person who's drowning in what they owe, and the deliberate path toward getting free.
Feeling buried under debt? This episode explores how faith can guide you toward debt relief. Discover that debt is more than a financial problem, it's an emotional and spiritual one. Find hope and practical steps, grounded in God's wisdom, to begin your journey to freedom.
Key Takeaways
- Debt creates shame and isolation, making it more than just a financial issue.
- Proverbs 22:7 highlights how debt makes the borrower a servant to the lender.
- God offers wisdom and support, not judgment, for those struggling with debt.
- The debt snowball method provides a practical, momentum-building approach to paying off debt.
- Overcoming debt requires discipline, but your worth is not determined by what you owe.
What to Do When You're Drowning in Debt
Debt is more than just a stack of bills or a number on a statement; it's an emotional burden that can steal your peace, rob you of sleep, and load you down with shame. This episode of Daily Devotions for Busy Lives explores what God offers when you feel like you're drowning in what you owe, and the practical, deliberate path toward freedom. If the weight of your financial obligations feels overwhelming, this is a message of hope and a guide to finding your way out.
The Emotional Toll of Financial Strain
Debt rarely stays confined to a spreadsheet. It becomes the thought that keeps you up at 2 a.m., the knot in your stomach when an unknown number appears on your caller ID, and a persistent source of anxiety. Perhaps the most damaging aspect of debt isn't the financial balance itself, but the shame it breeds. This shame often whispers that you should have known better, urging you to hide your struggles rather than seek help. This isolation is precisely when support is needed most, convincing you that you're alone in your situation, which is rarely the case.
A Lesson from Dave Ramsey's Experience
Financial expert Dave Ramsey knows this struggle intimately. In his younger years, he achieved remarkable financial success, amassing a million-dollar net worth and a high income by age 26. However, this success was built on a foundation of short-term debt. When banks called in his loans, he faced the daunting task of finding millions he didn't have within 90 days. After a two-and-a-half-year battle, the Ramseys filed for bankruptcy in September 1988, facing the immediate threat of losing their furniture, including their daughter's crib. In his darkest hour, having hidden his struggles from everyone, Dave Ramsey discovered God in a profound way he hadn't experienced during his ascent.
Scriptural Wisdom on Debt and Faith Debt Relief
Scripture has long described the reality of debt. Proverbs 22:7 states, "The borrower is servant to the lender." This verse plainly illustrates how debt establishes a claim on your income and limits your choices, effectively making your paycheck belong to your creditors before you even earn it. God provides this verse not to condemn, but to acknowledge the feelings you're experiencing, encouraging you to take it seriously enough to pursue freedom. The good news is that God's offer to those in this situation is wisdom, not judgment. He doesn't require an account of how you got here before offering help. Instead, He provides the next right step and walks with you through the often slow and unglamorous journey toward financial freedom. Finding faith debt relief begins with understanding that God's help is immediate.
Practical Steps Toward Financial Freedom: The Debt Snowball Method
Getting free of debt is a process that is typically slower than we'd like. Many individuals, including Pastor Bart Leger and his wife, have found success with the debt snowball method. This strategy involves listing all your debts from smallest to largest. You then focus all your extra available funds on aggressively paying off the smallest debt while making only the minimum payments on the others. Once the smallest debt is eliminated, you take the money you were paying on it and add it to the minimum payment of the next smallest debt. This snowball effect, fueled by the momentum of early wins, is what helps you stay committed. It requires a series of disciplined, unremarkable months, but it is a proven path toward paying off what you owe.
Overcoming Shame and Finding Hope
In this episode, Bart shares from his own experience of climbing out of debt more than once. He emphasizes that God meets people right where they are, without shame. Facing your debts head-on, acknowledging the numbers, and confiding in a trusted friend or counselor can significantly diminish the shame that often accompanies financial hardship. Your financial obligations do not define your worth. God offers wisdom, His presence, and a way out, one payment at a time. This journey is a powerful reminder that true freedom comes from aligning your actions with faith and seeking divine guidance.
Share This Episode:
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/261
Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemail
Want to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/
Rate and Review
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/
Connect with Bart
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylives
Website: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
Feeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.
Join Our Private Facebook Community
If you're looking for a place to connect with other Daily Devotions listeners and pray for each other, I'd love for you to join our private Facebook community group. Come find us at https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/group
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about debt?
Proverbs 22:7 states, 'the borrower is servant to the lender,' illustrating how debt creates a claim on your income and limits your freedom.
How can faith help with debt?
Faith offers wisdom, hope, and God's constant presence, providing support and guiding you through the process of financial freedom.
What is the debt snowball method for faith debt relief?
It involves listing debts from smallest to largest and aggressively paying off the smallest first, using the freed-up payment to tackle the next debt, building momentum with each win.
Why is shame a problem with debt?
Shame often isolates individuals, convincing them they are alone when they most need help and support to overcome their financial struggles.
Bart Leger:
By the time Dave Ramsey was 26 years old, he had
Bart Leger:
a net worth of more than $1 million and was earning $250,
Bart Leger:
000 a year. He had a Jaguar in the driveway and $4 million in
Bart Leger:
real estate and the life that was supposed to come with both.
Bart Leger:
From the outside, it was the American dream, but from the
Bart Leger:
inside, the whole thing was built on short-term debt and
Bart Leger:
Dave was the one who had agreed to the terms. When the banks
Bart Leger:
started calling in those loans, he had 90 days to repay millions
Bart Leger:
of dollars. He tried to outwork it. He couldn't. Two and a half
Bart Leger:
years of fighting it and everything was gone. On
Bart Leger:
September 23, 1988, the Ramseys declared It was the same day the
Bart Leger:
sheriff was supposed to arrive to take their furniture,
Bart Leger:
including the crib their daughter Rachel was still
Bart Leger:
sleeping to settle one of their outstanding lawsuits. Sharon was
Bart Leger:
terrified and furious. Dave was broke and broken. He said later,
Bart Leger:
they hadn't told anyone what was going on. We'll come back to
Bart Leger:
what happened on the other side of that day. But
Bart Leger:
first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
Bart Leger:
Bart Leger. I'm Bart Leger. If the weight of what you owe has
Bart Leger:
been pressing on you lately, I want you to hear this one all
Bart Leger:
the way through. I'm not talking about this from the outside.
Bart Leger:
There have been stretches in our marriage when debt piled up on
Bart Leger:
us, mostly because we were living beyond our means. I'd
Bart Leger:
love to tell you that only happened once. By God's grace,
Bart Leger:
we dug our way out using the debt snowball, paying off the
Bart Leger:
smallest balance first, and rolling that payment into the
Bart Leger:
next one. And these days, we do everything we can to owe nobody
Bart Leger:
anything. We'd be all the way debt-free by now, except
Bart Leger:
Hurricane Laura destroyed our house, and the insurance didn't
Bart Leger:
cover what it cost to rebuild. So, So, we're not finished, but
Bart Leger:
we have a plan, and we're working on it. Here's what
Bart Leger:
people who haven't been there don't always get. Debt is never
Bart Leger:
only a math problem. It's the thing you think about in the
Bart Leger:
morning, at night, when you can't sleep. It's the knot in
Bart Leger:
your stomach when an unknown number calls, and worse than the
Bart Leger:
numbers is the shame that comes with it. The sense that you
Bart Leger:
should have known better, and that you'd better keep it hidden
Bart Leger:
from everyone. The shame does more damage than the balance
Bart Leger:
does. It isolates you right when you need help the most. The
Bart Leger:
Bible doesn't pile on about this. It's honest about what debt does
Bart Leger:
to a person with no shame attached. Listen to Proverbs 22:
Bart Leger:
7: the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the
Bart Leger:
lender." That's a pretty plain description of how debt works.
Bart Leger:
When you owe money, the lender has a kind of claim on you. Your
Bart Leger:
paycheck is spoken for before it arrives, and your choices begin
Bart Leger:
to narrow. You feel it in your body, the sense of working for
Bart Leger:
someone else's benefit before your own. God gives us this
Bart Leger:
verse to name what we're already feeling, so we'll take it
Bart Leger:
seriously enough to start getting free of it. And notice
Bart Leger:
what God offers a person in this spot. He offers wisdom. He
Bart Leger:
doesn't ask how you got here before he helps. He gives you
Bart Leger:
the next right step and stays with you for the long road out.
Bart Leger:
Because that's the other truth about debt. Getting out is
Bart Leger:
slower than anybody wants. There's no snap of the fingers.
Bart Leger:
It's a series of unremarkable discipline months, one payment
Bart Leger:
at a time. And there's a method a lot of people have used to get
Bart Leger:
there. And it's the one we used ourselves. You list your debts
Bart Leger:
smallest to largest, set the interest rates aside for a
Bart Leger:
minute, and throw everything you can at the smallest one while
Bart Leger:
paying the minimum on the rest. When it's gone, you take that
Bart Leger:
freed up payment and you aim it at the next one. The momentum
Bart Leger:
matters more than the math here. Knocking out that first small
Bart Leger:
debt gives you a win. And you can feel it. And that win is
Bart Leger:
what keeps you going when the big ones are still ahead. Dave
Bart Leger:
Ramsey described what came after the bankruptcy as an I surrender
Bart Leger:
all moment.
Bart Leger:
The shame and regret showed up the way they always do with
Bart Leger:
financial collapse. The phone calls you can't answer. The
Bart Leger:
mailbox you stop opening. He hadn't told anyone what was
Bart Leger:
happening while it was happening. He wrote later that if he had to
Bart Leger:
do it again, he would have learned from others who had been
Bart Leger:
through it. Proverbs 22.7 says,
Bart Leger:
Dave learned that verse by living it. And the God he found
Bart Leger:
at the bottom of it turned out to be the same God who had been
Bart Leger:
there the whole time. Here's today's challenge. Pick the one
Bart Leger:
thing about your debt you've been most afraid to look at, and
Bart Leger:
look at it today. Write down that number, the full total,
Bart Leger:
even if it makes you sick to see it. You can't face what you
Bart Leger:
won't face. Then tell one trustworthy person where things
Bart Leger:
stand. Not the whole internet, but one person who will stand
Bart Leger:
with you. The shame loses most of its power the moment you say
Bart Leger:
the number out loud to someone safe. Father, you see the ones
Bart Leger:
listening who are awake, worrying about money, doing the
Bart Leger:
math over and over, still coming up short. Thank you that you
Bart Leger:
don't shame your children when they're down. You give wisdom,
Bart Leger:
and you give yourself. For the person drowning in what they owe,
Bart Leger:
lift the shame off them and show them the one next step they can
Bart Leger:
take. And bring people around them who help instead of judge.
Bart Leger:
Stay with them on the long road out, and remind them that even
Bart Leger:
at the bottom, you're never alone, and you're never gone. In
Bart Leger:
Jesus' name, amen. And if you'd like for me to pray with you,
Bart Leger:
I'd love to hear from you. You can leave me a voicemail at
Bart Leger:
dailydevotionsforbusylives.com slash voicemail. I listen to
Bart Leger:
everyone, and it would be an honor to bring your name before
Bart Leger:
the Lord. And thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy
Bart Leger:
Lives. Remember, what you owe never decides what you're worth,
Bart Leger:
and the way out comes one step at a time. Come back next time
Bart Leger:
for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth.
Bart Leger:
Until then, God bless, and have a great day.
