Lesson on Financial Management

Last few weeks I had a wonderful experience dealing with my wife's and my mobile phone. First, it was my wife's phone that had a problem with charging, and then my phone whose screen went blank. In trying to solve these two phone problems I learned a precious life lesson on finance; to save or not to save.

When my wife told me about her phone problem I tried to repair it at the earliest but I was too busy and wanted to do it fast and cheap. First I took it to a shop nearby that wanted to charge me Rs. 1500. But I decided to repair in another local market a kilometer away from home. When I went there it was repaired for Rs. 600 only. But a few days later the same charging problem, occurred. But every time I took the phone to the repair shop, I was told that it was alright and the man did not want to do anything further. Today morning the phone went completely drained out of battery and I had no choice but to repair it immediately wherever. At first, I thought to go to the same repair man as I already paid him, so I could save on the repair cost. Somehow the Lord did not allow me to go there and arranged my circumstances that I could not go there though I planned to. Therefore, I went to the shop nearby, and this time the same shop that I took the phone to before, agreed to replace the charging port with Rs. 700, which I readily agreed to, and it was repaired finally.

With my phone when I enquired about the cost of repairing I was quoted Rs. 3,500 for the first copy and Rs. 5000 for the original screen from Samsung. But I was in a hurry and needed the phone immediately and went to the local market and repaired it for Rs. 2,200. It worked for a couple of days and everything went blank again. When I took the phone to the repair man, I was told that the repair had no guarantee and they will not be responsible for anything after the work; no refund, no replacement, nothing. Therefore, I had no choice but ended up buying a new phone due to the urgency of the need. 

In the above two cases, I wanted to save money and tried my best to control my expenses. The more I tried to save money, the more I ended up spending. Then the Lord impressed me within that He has given me sufficient money to pay for the cost of repairing and also supplied me sufficiently to buy a brand new phone. When there is a need to use money I need to use it. I did nothing for luxury or for anything beyond my necessity. All that I spent was for what was actually needed. 

I felt cheated by the repairman in the local market. There indeed was a thought to vent my anger some way or the other. But the Lord indicated to me inwardly and outwardly to not visit that shop ever again, though I seriously wanted to. I forgave the person who cheated me on the two mobile repairs and on top of it, I learned my lesson on financial management.

The lesson is, to spend where and when it needs to be spent. Money comes,. money goes, it is the Lord who provides to meet all my needs. Trying to save money under the guise of financial management will not solve the problem. I should not be a lover of money but be a lover of men so that through the gospel as many as possible can be saved. Money should not be an obstacle in my pursuit of the Lord, and I shall not love money.

Similarly, for the last two weeks, there had been a gospel preaching in the city. For this, I also did my best to participate in the gospel preaching with the trainees and saints among the local resident of the city. For this, I need to use my car and joyfully spent money on fuel. In the same principle, use money when needed, especially for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For the love of money is a root of all evils, because of which some, aspiring after money, have been led away from the faith and pierced themselves through with many pains. 1 Timothy 6:10