How Can You Break the Cycle of Financial Fear Once and for All?

Speaker A00:00:00

Fear does strange things to your money. Sometimes fear makes you spend. Like, buy it now, because what if later is even worse. Sometimes fears makes you hoard.Like, don't touch anything because what if it all falls apart? And sometimes fear just sits in your chest like this constant hum. You got that fear of the bills and prices in the future and those what ifs.And friend, fear can feel like you're being responsible, but really it's just keeping you trapped. And here's the truth. Fear is not from God.So today we're going to start breaking its grip gently, practically, and in a way that you can actually live out. Because, friend, you can change this. So here's the question you and I are answering today.How can you break that cycle of financial fear once and for all? And I want to help. You name it, I want to help you understand it.But bigger than any of those things, I want to help you replace it with what God actually gives you. This isn't about hype. It's not about pressure. Just a steadier heart and a clearer next step. Hey, friend. Ralph Estep Jr. Here.Welcome to Financially Confident Christian, where we learn how to walk through life and money with wisdom, with peace, and with a heart anchored in God's truth. My mission is simple.To help you break that cycle of financial shame and build steady habits which are rooted in faith and become truly financially confident Christians. And I'm so happy you're here today.Yesterday, you and I talked about the lie of more and how chasing money as the source of peace will never actually satisfy us. But today we're going to talk about what usually sits underneath of that chase. Fear.Because a lot of money decisions you regret weren't mad decisions. They were fear decisions. So today isn't about learning some new trick. I don't have some new fancy way to do it. Today is about learning a new anchor.So, friend, if you've been living with that hum of fear, I want you to know this. God is not disappointed in you. God is still inviting you in. So here's today's question. Ralph, I'm trying to do better with money.But if I'm being honest, I am always afraid. I'm always afraid I'm going to mess up. I'm always afraid something's going to happen. I'm always afraid I'm never going to catch up.And that fear makes me do things I don't even want to do. Ralph, how do I stop living like this? Well, friend, first thing I want to say is thank you for that honesty.Because naming it is already part of healing it. That's one of the big steps of this. And see if you can name it, you can actually start changing it.And as you're listening right now, if money fear has been following you. You're not crazy, you're not weak, you're not failing. Fear is pervasive in our lives. It whispers this, it whispers, be on edge.You better stay in control. Prepare for disaster. Don't trust anyone. And listen. Don't trust God, not with this. Living in that fear is exhausting.Because fear requires you to carry the future alone. But friend, you were never meant to carry this alone. You were meant to be led, held and steadied. Let's be clear. Financial fear isn't always loud.Sometimes it's subtle. It can sound like this in your own mind. I should probably keep this on a credit card. Well, just in case.Or maybe in your giving, I can't give, what if I need this later? Or I can't start this savings plan or this debt reduction plan because guess what, I might fail. Oh, and I can't look at my numbers.That's way too much for me to handle. That's just overwhelming. But fear does three main things to us. It makes us avoid, it makes us control and it makes us react.And none of those things, none of those create peace in our lives. See, peace comes from faith and faith grows through trust. That's what we really talked about yesterday.So today we're not pretending that fear isn't real. It is real. We're just refusing to let fear be our leader. I'm Ralph Estep Jr. I'm an accountant and I've worked with people at every income level.And here's what I've learned. I've been doing this for 30 years. Fear is not limited to people with little money. Let me just tell you right now, fear can live in six figure homes.Fear can live in that high income job. Fear doesn't always look at how much you have. It's about the story that you believe about God and about tomorrow. But here's the best part.Stories can be rewritten. See I've seen fear show up in both extremes. I've seen that one person overspend because buying gives them that moment of relief.They break that fear for a second. That's relief for them. The same thing happens, another person hoards because savings gives them a moment of control. If I save it, I'm in control.I don't to worry so much. But both of those folks are trying to Solve the same problem. Let's name it. I don't feel safe. But here's the turning point.Money is never going to heal that. No matter how much you have, how much you hoard, how much you spend, how much you save, it's never going to heal that. Only God can heal that.And God doesn't shame you for being afraid. He understand that. He invites you to bring that fear to him. He says, come closer. Let me carry what you've been carrying.So here's the real question today. What would change if your money decisions came from faith instead of fear?But deeper than that, what would change if you could pause, breathe and choose your next step without panic? Because here's the truth of today. You can let me start by saying this. Fear is a signal. It's not a leader.See, fear shows up to alert you and it's okay. But fear is never qualified to drive you home. See, fear says react. Oh, I better react.There's something going on and that's a good thing that keeps us alive. But faith tells us something deeper. Respond. See, fear is fast. It's quick, bad decisions. Oh, I gotta make a fearful day. What do I do here?But faith is steady. And friend, you don't need fear to lead in order to be wise. You just need awareness and you need a plan.See, for so many of us, fear often hides under control. Let's just name it. Fear doesn't always look like panic. Sometimes fear looks like perfectionism. I'm guilty of this.Micromanaging things, obsessing about things, checking our accounts every hour. Yes, there are people out there on their bank app every hour. What's in my account? What's in my account?And there are people out there feeling guilty if you spend anything, if you spend a dime. They are living in fear. Because see, that control feels like safety until it becomes a prison. A self created prison. But faith loosens that grip.Not because you stop caring, that's not what I'm saying at all. But because you stop carrying everything alone. And friend, you are allowed to loosen that grip. From what I've seen, fear shrinks your world.See, fear makes you small. It holds you back. It makes you say, I can't, I won't. Oh, not yet. Maybe someday when I don't feel so fearful.But faith, when it expands, it grows your world. It says, God is with me. God will guide me. I can take one small step today. And friend, small steps break big chains. You don't need some giant leap.You just need one faithful step. But hear Me on this. God doesn't just remove the fear, he replaces it. And this is huge. See, God doesn't just tell you stop being afraid.He replaces fear with something even better. He replaces it with things like power, power in him, love, Love in him. And self discipline. See, power means you're not helpless anymore.Love means you're not abandoned. And self discipline means you're not out of control. See, that's the spirit of God at work in you. And friend, if you felt weak, this is your reminder.God has already put strength inside of you. You've started in there. You just have to harness it. You've got to know that faith multiplies what fear would waste.See, for so many of us, fear wastes energy on worst case scenarios. I've been here, done that. What if this happens? What if this happens?What if this happens and you spend your whole day worrying about well, what happens? This. What if I do this? What if I do this? It just wastes your energy on things that probably will never happen.But faith uses energy for wise next steps. See, fear always tells you, what if it all goes wrong? What if it all breaks? What if everything breaks down but faith says something deeper, says God.Show me today's step. What will you have me to do today? And see that one step, that's how freedom starts. Not by predicting the future. We can't do that.Anybody tells you they can predict the future, they're lying to you. But by obeying God in the present. And friend, as I've said the last couple days, you can obey one step at a time.So today, break that cycle with a simple pattern that you can actually use. Here's a pattern you can use. This week I'm going to give you something you can take away with.Name the fear, bring it to God and take one small step anyway in light of that fear. Name it, pray it, and move. See, fear breaks when you stop feeding it with avoidance. Guess what? We create our own levels of fear. We're feeding it.We keep on doing it because we avoid it. But name it, pray about it and move on. Because friend, you don't have to feed it anymore. Let's look at second Timothy, chapter one, verse seven.For the Spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self discipline. And now you could say that's great. That's a very comforting verse, Ralph, but it's so much bigger than that. It's a new identity.It's telling us fear is not our leader, but God's. Spirit is our leader. So when fear speaks and listen, fear is going to speak to you. I cannot tell you that you're never going to have fears.Part of your human anatomy is that you will have fears. But here's the thing, you don't have to obey it. You can answer it with God is my provision. So here's your next action step.Pray over your number one money. Fear. Just name it. Not five fears, just one. And I want you to be specific things like this, Lord, I'm afraid of not having enough.I'm going to pray about that, Lord, I'm afraid of another emergency. I've been down this road, Lord, I'm worried about this. Or Lord, I'm afraid I'm never going to get ahead.Or, Lord, and so many of us feel this one, I'm afraid I'll fail. Start there and then pray this, Lord, replace fear with faith. Give me power, give me love, and give me self discipline.And then take one small step today. Maybe one call, one budget check, one transfer and one calm decision. Because, friend, you're not trying to fix your whole life today.Just take one next step without panic. Because guess what? You can do. One step. Lord, thank you for your spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.Break the grip of fear in our finances and replace fear with faith today. Teach us to take steady steps without panic.And for the person listening right now, steady their breathing, steady their thoughts and Lord, steady their heart. Remind them that they are not alone and they are not stuck. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.Friend, if you've been battling financial fear, I want you to know this. You don't have to do this alone. Come join our community at financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join again. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join.This is a place where you can truly breathe, where you can learn and you can grow without shame. And friend, you belong here. See, fear doesn't get the final word in our lives. God does. And you can take that next step without panic.Now, tomorrow we're going to talk about how you can build confidence in your finances even if you feel clueless. Yes, tomorrow's episode is going to be for that person that feels clueless.So friend, if you know somebody right now that's battling financial fear, why don't you share this episode with them? Share the show with them. Because this show is not about financial shame.It's about learning to walk in wisdom, learning to stay financially savvy, and truly learning to become a financially confident Christian. God bless you. And I hope to join me tomorrow.