I recently heard the story of a young family who had made a decision to pay off their 30 year mortgage early. Realistically they didn’t know how quickly they could actually pay it off. But they made a decision that they would start with what they had in their hands, and would always put something extra towards the payment of their loan each month.
At that time, they were living off of one income, and the only additional amount they could contribute towards their mortgage was $20 a month.
Now it doesn’t matter who you ask, $20 is a drop in the ocean towards a debt of nearly $330,000. But as believers in God and His word, they also knew that their $20 was a seed in the ground towards their ultimate goal.
They also made some changes to their lifestyle, which included sticking to a monthly budget and cutting out things they didn’t need. As a result, this family paid off their 30 year mortgage in 5 years!
How does that even make sense?
It doesn’t.
But what I have found through this couple’s story and through experiences of my own, is that when we practically exercise our faith, God comes in and does the rest.
The principle that this couple saw at work is mentioned all throughout scripture….the law of sowing and reaping.
In Genesis 26, we read the story of Isaac living in the land at the time of a famine. The temptation was to go to Egypt to escape the famine. But God told him not to go, but to stay in that place. In verse 12 we see that Isaac obeyed and did not leave, but instead planted crops in that land. And the result was that in the same year he reaped a hundredfold harvest because the Lord blessed him.
You see, when God is in it, it doesn’t matter what the economists are predicting or what your bank balance looks like.
2 Corinthians 9: 10 says “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing…”
The supply and the multiplication is up to God. But it is our job to sow the seed that we’ve been given. A seed cannot grow if it is still in our hands.
Like this young couple, is there a nearly impossible goal that you are looking at right now?
I want to encourage you to take an inventory and find what you have that you can invest towards that goal. Can you give of your time, maybe 30 minutes a day or a couple hours a week? Can you look at your budget and find something, even if it’s only $20, to contribute towards a financial goal you may have?
God doesn’t need much to move on our behalf. But I believe He is looking to see if we are willing to be faithful with what we’ve already been given and to start right where we are.
I believe that like this couple, you will see and experience the miracle of what God can do when we are obedient and faithful.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
~Vijoy
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash