“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” - Jeremiah 17:7-8 | NIV |

Last week I outlined the idea that it is all too easy for a good Christian to get into financial difficulties – and that it was possible to be brought back from the brink of crisis by following good advice and trusting that God would care for the soul in difficulties. I mentioned seven ‘baby steps’ that have proved really effective for a number of individuals in one church in the north-east of England.

The blog for today outlines the first of the baby steps. Dave Ramsey is a financial expert who is a Christian. He takes a matter of fact approach to debt – the matter of fact, as we interpret it, that God will care for the trusting person who asks God to guide in difficult situations.

 The steps are fully outlined in the book ‘Total Money Makeover’  and on the following web page  https://www.daveramsey.com/baby-steps/

You think … it’s an American financial guru! Yes, and I’m as suspicious as you are about such ‘experts’, all I know is that the steps worked for my friends. They had to pass through this step first. BABY STEP 1: SAVE £500 or £1000 to start an emergency fund. How much you save will be up to you and will depend on your own family needs – not your income. An emergency fund is crucial to catch those unexpected events in life that you can't plan for: plumbing issues, unexpected car problems, medical bills, family bereavement or you lose your job unexpectedly!

You ask, “How on earth can I save up that much when I’m in debt already?” There are three words of advice I have for you that if applied with prayer really work. The first is to set a budget with your family every month. The second is to find what you have around your house that you don’t need – and sell it. The third is to increase your income by God’s grace.

I won’t go into detail about budgets now – that will come later

How about selling things? My wife and I have a stash of bits and pieces we haven’t used in a while – they will go to the car boot sale when we have some better weather and will be used to go into our emergency fund. From that you realise that I am following the 7 baby steps even though my only debt is the mortgage. Please don’t do the same as I did last time we sold at a car boot – we spent rather too much of the proceeds on pizza! At that time we hadn’t heard of the 7 baby steps. At that time we hadn’t realised our money problems were affecting our spiritual life.

Then there is the suggestion that you increase your income. Here is where you say, “I’m just hanging on to my present income – how on earth do you expect me to increase my income?” This is where you learn that God looks after you – this is a faith step. I know this step works. One of the SmartStewards was waiting for a job with no hope of a job. This is the north-east after all. How on earth did she get the job a week after she realised the financial pickle she was in and prayed that God would increase her income? That can be no accident.

I can describe another incident. The young man was seriously in debt. He couldn’t work. He couldn’t generate more income. Then his friends decided that they would find him a job. They also decided that they would do the job with him. It took us a month to raise the £1000. We worked at scrubbing down metal window guards using equipment supplied by a friend of a friend. That month cost us a few blisters and a collection of aches and pains you wouldn’t believe – but we had fun and we knew God was looking after us all.

So there is the first step. Save £1000 and do it quickly. It removes the chance that when an emergency arises you don’t dissolve into even more debt by taking on some more credit.

 Want some more inspiration? How about having a look at the SmartStewards Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/groups/825816587526111/

 Next time we will look at the second baby step.