Especially for Newlyweds
How Can I Find Peace When Financial Fears Keep Me Up at Night?
Every time I hear the word budget, I want to faint. Fortunately, God can help.
As a husband and new father, I can say there is something I fear more than any spider, height, or dark shape in the night.
It’s money.
Picture me in a corner, cowering as a bank statement looms over me, and you’ll have a pretty accurate depiction of how I feel.
With my wife and new baby depending on me, I quite often find myself on the verge of panic, wondering how I’m going to make ends meet. On top of the constant monthly expenses rushing toward me, I’m still developing a career. I’m not sure if or when I will have a steady, secure job.
It’s easy for me to slip into a doom-and-gloom mentality when I dwell on finances. I’m trying to learn, however, that while I don’t always have a clear view of what is ahead, God will guide me.
Fear Fades as Faith Increases
While learning to better trust God, I’ve started to recognize something about myself. I often pray and ask for blessings, like help finding a job or covering an unexpected medical bill, but sometimes I’m so afraid of being disappointed that I actually expect God to not give me the blessings I’m asking for.
Moroni 7:40 asks, “How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?” Giving up hope before I even ask for the blessing is like putting a bandage on a wound that doesn’t exist. What’s the point?
This realization has led me to a desire for change. I’m trying to practice recognizing that God has the power to give me blessings, while still understanding that God will give me the blessings that are best for me, not the ones I think I need. Even though I still get nervous about finances, this practice has helped me feel far less scared.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to righteous action.” Asking for help with finances will naturally lead to action if it is done in faith. That action could manifest in many ways, such as budgeting, applying to better jobs, or developing new skill sets.
Pay Tithing (No, Really, Hear Me Out)
When living paycheck to paycheck, 10 percent can seem like an awful lot to give away, but it is one important way I try to exercise righteous action.
Shortly after our wedding, my wife and I were in a car accident. My wife was injured and had to quit her job. My paychecks alone weren’t cutting it, and paying tithing was difficult, to say the least.
But we decided to do it anyway.
A week or two later, we found an envelope in our mailbox. It had our names on it but no return address, and inside the envelope was about 10 times more than what we had just paid in tithing. To this day I have no idea who sent it or how they knew we needed money. But what I do know is that we paid our tithing and God knew we needed help.
Although not every tithing miracle is as grand as that one, we have seen many others, both spiritual and temporal. As we learn in Malachi 3:10, “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
When I’m scared that we won’t be able to afford rent or food or whatever we need, I turn to the Lord’s promises for paying tithing as a source of peace. Sometimes it’s the only comfort we can afford, but we will always be able to afford it.
Keep Pressing Forward
Something I want to make clear is that I don’t have all the financial answers. But that’s kind of the point, right?
My financial struggles have helped me turn to the Lord and learn about exercising faith precisely because I didn’t know what to do. The path I would have chosen for myself would have had far fewer climbs, but I would have missed the majestic, priceless views of the one I’m on.
I’m grateful for that, and while I can’t say I’d love more financial uncertainty in my future, I look forward to the journey either way—because I know I can trust Christ to help me through. Really, this is the greatest source of peace I have found.
To those who find themselves on a similar journey, keep pressing forward. Ask God for help, pay your tithing, and exercise faith in His Son, our Savior and Redeemer. Consider what righteous action that faith might inspire you to take.
I know God will answer your prayers, and even if the answer doesn’t involve wealth, “great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:38).