"You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow." - Deuteronomy 15:5-6
There are two parts of this passage in Deuteronomy I want to highlight:
1. "If you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God." and,
2. You will "never need to borrow."
We need to understand that if we are careful to obey God, we can live a life free of debt. God does not say you "won't borrow" but that you will never need to borrow, indicating that there is the option to take on debt, but we do not have to accept that possibility if we carefully obey Him.
During my junior year in high school, I took a class called Dollars and Sense- a personal finance course created by Dave Ramsey. The yearlong curriculum taught us The Five Foundations:
Save a $500 emergency fund
Get out of debt
Pay cash for your car
Pay cash for college
Build wealth and give
The two foundations that left the greatest imprint on my heart were:
1. Save a $500 emergency fund, and
4. Pay cash for college.
If I could accomplish these two tasks, I knew I'd be setting my future self-up for better financial success. The goal was not to become rich but live financially wise. Growing up, I had watched my parents struggle financially and realized very quickly that I did not want to fall into the same traps.
Entering the summer of senior year, my parents said I would pay for college. This was very intimidating as I hardly had any money in my checking account, but I was hopeful that scholarship money would provide the means to pay for college. Remembering the fourth foundation from Dave Ramsey's curriculum, I wrote, "To have college paid for," as a prayer request on my bathroom mirror. Every day I would read the request and was hopeful God would provide.
By fall of senior year, most of the chatter around college was about DI schools. I chose to apply to Texas Tech University and was admitted by December 2016. With the new year came scholarship applications, degree enrollment, roommate pairing, and decor shopping. By March 2017, my roommate and I had our dorm colors, bedding, and decor picked out, some of it being already purchased.
I fantasized about life on Texas Tech's campus. Where I would eat, study, socialize. What groups and organizations I would join. I couldn't wait to move to campus and start a new adventure. Throughout the fall and spring semester, I applied to over 100 scholarships and was eagerly awaiting their responses.
By the end of March, reality started to hit, coming in the form of a gigantic bill that I realized I couldn't pay: Tuition. Many classmates talked about the scholarships they had received from various organizations and schools, but I hadn't received one. Not one. I wondered if God cared about my request to graduate college debt free and worried if He would be faithful to help.
Leading into April, no one reached out about scholarship funding, causing me to face a heavy crossroad: use student debt to pay for school or unenroll. Both were very scary. If I took on student debt, I'd sacrifice a goal I felt very strongly to fulfill...
But if I unerolled...
What would I do after high school?
What would people think of me?
What would my family think?
These thoughts consumed my mind. Why couldn't I accept the position I chose in the fall: attend Texas Tech and take out student loans like everyone else? But I couldn't deny the sense of uneasiness that grew as the days passed.
By Mid-April, the uneasiness of taking on student debt was so heavy that I unenrolled from the University with no plan after May. Not knowing what I'd do after high school scared me, but what scared me even more was piles and piles of debt I'd have to pay back for a four year experience.
Thankfully, my parents supported the decision and never tried to convince me that I was making a mistake, but I received push back from friends, family, and community members. My mom, dad, and I began looking at mission trips, gap programs, community colleges, anything I might have been interested in after high school. By early May, we concluded that I would attend the community college in Amarillo while working part-time. I have always enjoyed writing and thought of beginning that journey in Amarillo.
But God had a different plan.
Two weeks before graduation, I received a call from a coach in South Arkansas seeing if I was interested in high jumping for Southern Arkansas University. This seemed very daunting, intimidating and quite random. I told him no- truthfully because I couldn't see how this would help pay for college. It seemed like a distraction. What if I didn't enjoy college athletics? What if I was terrible?
The coach called again, asking if I would also run cross country. I thought, are you crazy? There's no way I'm running IN COLLEGE. It was one thing to run in high school, but with college being the next level, I really didn't know if I wanted to suffer through all that pain.
Soon after, my dad pointed at the prayer request on the mirror and said "maybe this is how God is answering your prayer." I couldn't understand why God wanted me to run in college athletics. Never had this been on the radar. College coaches hadn't approached me throughout the year, and I didn't see myself good enough for the collegiate level. Why couldn't God have answered the request through regular scholarship money? Why did I have to run to see my request come to pass?
The coach informed us that he was out of scholarship money and said he would give me a $1 athletic scholarship but would ensure I'd receive academic funds to help pay. Is this really how God was answering my prayer with a $1 scholarship? How was that possible? But surprisingly it was. The $1 scholarship ensured I would receive more the following year. The coach could have easily said that I'd have to be a walk-on and prove myself, but by giving me $1, God was locking in a way to receive more money the following season.
I realize now that I had to obey what God was asking me to do to receive the blessing of never needing to borrow. He wasn't asking me to succeed but to trust Him with this unexpected opportunity. I think too many times we are afraid to take a chance on God because we do not know the outcome and are unfamiliar with what He's asking us to do.
If it hadn't been for my dad, I don't know if I would have accepted the offer. Was it easy? NO. I had to wake up every day and put in the work. Even with athletic and academic scholarships, I had to pay out of pocket during my first and second years until I received another scholarship in my junior year. This meant working summers and Christmas breaks, but God knew SAU Cross Country was best for me.
Although my request on the mirror was to graduate college debt-free, God did so much more. I learned discipline, integrity, how to be a good teammate and friend, met incredible people, grew in my relationship with the Lord, was humbled, and even met my husband, all while graduating college debt-free.
His promise is simple but sometimes so hard for us to understand, "If we carefully obey all His commandments, then we will never need to borrow." This probably means you won't attend your dream school, buy your dream car, or purchase that dream house. But oh the fruit you will gain from following the Lord's wisdom!
"Take instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her." (Proverbs 8:10-11).
This testimony is only one of millions, and God wants to do the same in your life! But are we listening to God, carefully obeying His commandments so we will never need to borrow? Or are we listening to the culture that says borrowing is a part of the American culture? My challenge is for us to find out what He says about managing money in His Word and learn to obey His leading and nudges- even when we don't understand, so that we will never need to borrow.
Looking back, everyone who pushed back on my decision to unenroll meant well. I truly believe they were voicing their concern because they cared, but just because someone means well, doesn't mean their action or opinion is correct. Before God answered my request, He tested me to see if I would take a leap of faith, unenroll from Texas Tech, and trust Him without knowing the next step. It's easy to quit our jobs or move to the next thing when we know what that thing is, but when we don't see what's next and still feel a pull to act, are we willing to obey?
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