Consider The Birds

We are in another season where the numbers do not add up.

The electric bill is there. The other bills are there. And right now, we do not have enough to cover all of it.

This is not the first time we have been here.

Financial hardship has been part of our story for years, and if I am being truthful, there are moments where it is exhausting to find ourselves in another season of uncertainty.

But one thing I keep learning is this:

Fear does not pay the bill.

Worry does not create money that is not there. Anxiety does not provide for my family. It can consume my thoughts, steal my peace, and make me imagine every worst-case scenario, but at the end of the day, the bill is still the bill.

So I keep returning to Scripture.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

— Matthew 6:26

I think sometimes we read verses like this and assume faith means we should never feel afraid.

That has not been my experience.

Sometimes faith looks like reading the same truth again because my mind has wandered right back to fear.

Sometimes it is reminding myself that God is still God even when I do not know how something is going to work out.

The problem is still real.

But so is He.

We Are Still Here

There have been many times over the years where I was convinced a financial situation was going to destroy us.

And yet here we are.

Still alive.

Still learning.

Still raising our family.

Still working.

Still praying.

Still trying again.

That does not mean everything always worked out the way we wanted. It does not mean every hardship disappeared.

It simply means some of the things I thought would completely break us did not.

Sometimes the testimony is not that the hardship immediately ended.

Sometimes the testimony is simply:

It did not get the final word.

This Is Not a Request to Be Rescued

I want to make something else clear.

I am not writing this because I believe anyone reading it is responsible for fixing our circumstances.

Our bills are our responsibility.

Our household is our responsibility.

And the things we cannot control, we bring to God.

I am sharing this because I know we are not the only family who has been here.

There are people deciding which bill gets paid first.

People afraid to look at their bank account.

People who feel embarrassed that they are struggling again.

People who wonder why they are not further ahead by now.

And if that is you, I want you to know you are not alone.

Maybe None of This Will Be Wasted

We do not claim to know every reason our road has been so difficult.

But we do believe that none of it has to be wasted.

We believe there may come a day when we are in a position to help someone walking through the same kind of hardship.

And when that day comes, we will understand.

Not because we read about financial struggle.

Because we lived it.

We will remember what it felt like to count every dollar, worry about the lights staying on, and wonder how everything was going to get paid.

Maybe part of what is being refined in us is not only faith.

Maybe it is compassion.

Maybe one day the provision we are praying for now will become provision we are able to give to someone else later.

For Today

I still do not know exactly how everything is going to work out.

And maybe I am not supposed to know yet.

Jesus said:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

— Matthew 6:34

I want tomorrow solved before I go to sleep tonight.

But I am learning that faith does not always give me the whole road.

Sometimes it gives me enough light for the next step.

So for today, I will keep walking.

The bills are still real.

The uncertainty is still real.

But fear does not get to own this season.

We have been through hard seasons before.

We are still here.

We are still learning.

And today, that is enough.

A Song for This Season:

A Prayer for Financial Hardship

Father God,

You know every need, every bill, and every fear we carry.

Give us wisdom, peace, and strength when we do not know what comes next. Provide what we need, open the right doors, and close the wrong ones, and help us trust You without pretending the struggle is not real.

For everyone facing financial hardship, remind us that our worth is not measured by what is in our bank account.

Teach us to take one day at a time, to seek You before fear, and to remember this season so we can one day help others walking through it too.

Give us our daily fill and faith for today.

Amen.