I’m in my office the other day and a friend stops to say “Hi.” Turns out his wife was diagnnosed with cancer and as he continued to share their journey, he made a profound statement, “This wasn’t in the plan!”

Not in this ballpark, the next ballpark and even the one after that he went on describing. Life just has a way of throwing us curveballs that even the best ballplayers can’t hit. I attend Eagle Brook Church in Woodbury, Minnesota, and as I listen to the sermons (which are the best around) I struggle with no matter how hard I pray and I too am tossed into things that aren’t in my plans.

We all have a vision for our life – a roadmap and outline of the outcomes we seek. Recently, I’ve been having one of those continual experiences that wasn’t a part of my plan. No matter how much we vision and plan, it seems that there are many point when we are not in control. For me, attending church on Saturday helps my heart and soul, but sometimes I still struggle just like my friends and clients. How many other financial advisors are willing to drop their egos and admit they are not superhuman?

I still vividly recall a seeing another good friend, Joe, two weeks before he passed away. He said to me “none of this matters” and I didn’t understand what he was saying. So I asked him, “What are you saying?”

He repeated himself, “None of this matters!” I asked him what he meant. He said, “The house, cars, boats, four wheelers. They don’t matter. All that matters is my family.” And with that he asked me to help take care of them when he was gone. I can’t begin to tell you how much impact he had on me. He is in my thoughts each day when I work to help my clients.

I continually reassess my own financial plan and so should you. Our situations are always evolving and our financial plans need to keep up. Just like my friend who came by to share the news of his wife’s cancer and how they’ve paused everything to focus on her cancer treatments.

Take the time out of your busy life to pause to make sure “it’s not too late” for the type of financial planning you wished you would have done. Many times we have to have critical conversations even when we don’t think it’s necessary. If you’ve been delaying that critical conversation, take a minute and give me a call. I’ll be here so we can talk through it.

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This question has been weighing on my mind and heart. What is God’s financial plan for our money? I can’t begin to describe it to you, but it’s a topic I feel I need to share and discuss. Some of you reading this are not believers and that’s Ok but you’ll discover, as you read my blog, that even if you are not a believer the plan God outlines is powerful for even non-believers to follow.

Now is the time to discover God’s financial plan for our money. No truer words are, “the rich rule over the poor, and the BORROWER is a slave to the lender,” (Proverbs 22:7). You and I have been the borrower and let’s stop being a slave to the lender!

The Bible discusses money the most. Surprising, it even beats out love in how much time is spent on the topic of money. I suspect God knew money could very well be our downfall. Not money itself, rather the love of money. God has a financial plan for each and every one us. We just need to take the time to listen and open our hearts to understand what that is. God will provide yet that means we need to be a good stewards of what is ultimately his – our money. Below starts to outline God’s financial plan for our – his money plan.

We have to start with the belief that everything comes from God. I suspect you are no different than me and at times I even forget this. I need to be reminded of this when I stray from this belief and in today’s world, it seems easy to do so. Our culture says we have to have a lot of stuff to be viewed successful. That’s not true. I know for years I had that perspective, but I was wrong. Life’s not about stuff, rather it’s about having our financial house in order, having a great relationship with God, our spouse and family and not worrying about money.

It’s easy to compare ourselves others, our neighbors, friends and co-workers. Yet, we overlook what’s been given to us. Below are four messages from Eagle Brook Church on God and money. Pastor Bob is a great communicator and educator and through him I want to continue to experience the blessing of God in my life. Here are a few key messages around how to handle our relationship to stuff, tithing and all things money.

Overwhelmed financially
It’s time to break this cycle most people find themselves in. We actually bring it on ourselves. Now’s the time to change our perspective. We need to change our mindset and attitude about being content. Becoming content is learned over time and doesn’t come overnight. In one of this talks, Pastor Bob discusses how even ants prepare. Shouldn’t we as humans prepare?

How can we be generous? How can we honor God? Are there ways to be made rich in every way. I want to be able to respond joyfully when opportunities present themselves.

“At the root of debt is wanting more than God’s current provision for your life and arranging another way of getting it for yourself,” Pastor Bob.
To hear more of this message, you can view Eagle Brook Church online:

To be debt free
‘This is what we all seek – being debt free. It can be accomplished by making a few key decisions in our day-to-day lives. Money is the number one cause of stress. So let’s change that. Let’s change how we view and treat our money. How powerful would it be if we never carried debt ever again? With debt so easy to obtain, it’s so easy to become enslaved to those lenders. Here are three key steps to get out of debt:

Make your money behave
Where does it all go? We need to tell our money where to go so it stretches to help us reach our financial goals. It’s time to stop the financial stress so many people find themselves in. It doesn’t matter where you’re at financially; so many people have financial stress. It’s time we are no longer slaves to lenders. Let’s stop paying interest on “stuff”. It just adds more stress in our lives.

“After all, we didn’t bring anything with us when we came into this world, and we certainly can’t carry anything with us when we die. So, if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content,” (1 Timothy 6:7-8). Powerful but not always easy to live by with all pressures society places upon us. Yet, if we are content with what we have, it’s powerful and freeing! Let’s experience that together.

Make your money matter
I’m cheap too, at times. I like it when my stuff is my stuff. For as long as I’ve been a dad, I can’t remember when my stuff was my stuff. You and I have so much stuff. As I work on right-sizing my home, I can’t believe how much stuff I’ve accumulated over the years that I never use. I can’t help but reflect on that fact that if I hadn’t spent all that money on stuff, how much more riches I’d have today.

“God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:19).

God has a financial plan for each an every one of us. We need to trust and follow the plan he has for us. It’s time to lift the financial stress from our lives.

Bottom line
Give, save…then spend. What a great financial strategy for each and every one of us. You don’t need to be a believer in God to follow this. I’m in the money business and I know I can continue to improve myself through God’s financial plan. How about you? If you’d like to have a meaningful conversation around this, please reach out.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,” (Psalm 24:1).

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