If we were forced to live off the land, certain skills would help us survive. Starting a fire to keep warm, using plants for food and medicine, catching food to eat, purifying water for drinking, and building a shelter would all help you live longer if you had to live off the land.

What about economic survival skills? Are there things that you can do to survive rough economic times?

Start a Fire to Keep Warm

Don't let your heart grow cold. God's Word is still true and so are His promises. Just because we are in a recession doesn't mean that Biblical principles have stopped working. Obey Biblical principles (tithing, giving, saving, budgeting, contentment, thankfulness) and stand on His promises.

Make declarations each morning to stir up your faith. When Mike and I were entering our fifth year of financial difficulties years ago, I began making financial declarations. I simply inserted our names into the following passages and read them aloud each morning in a personalized way. Soon my faith was soaring, affecting my prayer life, and our financial situation began to turn around in just six months. Yes, for years (not days or weeks), I made these declarations, standing on His promises.

Deuteronomy 28:1-4; Isaiah 54:10-17; Psalm 112; & II Corinthians 9:6-15.

Our business has been hit hard this year and the Lord is reminding me to start making declarations again. What a joy it is to remind God of His promises. Reminding myself warms me up inside too!

Use Plants for Food and Medicine

When military pilots are shot down in enemy territory, they are taught to survive until they are rescued, avoiding capture. Part of this survival involves using plants for food and medicine. Poisonous plants must be recognized and avoided. Certain plants provide pain relief, while others can treat infections. Re-think the way you feed your body and take care of your family's health.

Adding one or two vegetarian meals a week to your family's diet will lower your food bill and probably their cholesterol too. Herbs can be used to treat pain, infections, and minor illnesses. Check out a book on herbal remedies from the library. We have used herbs effectively with our family to avoid expensive doctor visits.

Catch Food to Eat

There is one person in our life that we seem to spend lots of money on. Sometimes we don't even realize how much money we spend on her. We don't like to think of ourselves spending so much on that person, but we do. If you want to grow in godliness, stop spending so much money on yourself! There, I said it.

Without realizing it, we think about things we want and need, laying our plans to purchase these things now or later. We are bombarded with messages from advertising on television, at the movies, in the mall, in the newspaper, on billboards when we drive, and from the people we love who know exactly what we "need." Somehow our mind gets wrapped around the idea that buying lots of stuff will make us happy, take away the pain in our lives, help us to become more organized, or help people to love us more. We know, of course, that stuff won't make us happy, but we are bombarded with the lie so often that we start to believe it.

Secret Stuff Area

We each have a secret stuff area. That is the area where we really believe that purchasing items of that kind will make us happy. My secret stuff area is shoes...it is just amazing how quickly a new pair of shoes can brighten up my day. Flowers, chocolate, clothes, music, CDs, DVDs, jewelry, electronic equipment, bling, designer purses, software, or accessories might be your secret stuff area. Maybe it is not so secret. Maybe it is more than one area...you just love to buy stuff for yourself.

We kid ourselves into thinking that the money we spend is all on others, but if you are honest and list everything you spend, you will find that you purchase all kinds of things for yourself. You might buy snacks, drinks, new clothes, comfort foods, music, books, or accessories on impulse when you are out shopping for the family or running errands. We don't think about it, but it adds up.

The Real Issue

The money we spend on ourselves isn't the most important thing, but rather the preoccupation with making ourselves happy and feeding our appetites. Greed, the desire for more stuff, is an appetite. When we feed it with little snacks (a bag of Combos or a bestseller at the check-out line), we are feeding the appetite of greed. What do we really need? How much do we really need? Can we wait to purchase this item later? How much more stuff does God really want us to have?

I'm not trying to sound harsh, but spending money on ourselves reveals the self-centered nature that is needing to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Another thing that reveals this selfish attitude is how unhappy we become when we cannot have what we want because our finances are tight. Is this really how a Christian lady should live and manage her money? How we spend our money reveals our heart and our priorities.

Examine Your Heart

"Do you think Pastor Mike would give us some money to cover a bounced check from the church's benevolence fund?" the young man finally stammered, after his wife had spend two whole minutes glaring at him. There was tension in the air.

"I can't really answer for him," I responded, adroitly passing the buck to my husband. "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?"

Of course, they wanted to talk about it. Both husband and wife blamed the other for the financial mismanagement with venom in their voices. Had they just two years earlier promised to honor and cherish one another? I had been at their wedding. My mind began to wander and I forced myself to focus back on the louder of the two voices who were both speaking at once.

"I called the bank to see how much was in our account..."

"Why did you call the bank?" I interrupted. "Why not look in your checkbook register?"

This shut them both up instantly and a look of confusion clouded the two young faces.
​

"Well Brian keeps the economy humming," I giggled to my husband as we talked late one evening. Our friend, Brian, had dropped in to show us his latest purchases that included a dart gun, a music CD, and a new amp for his guitar.

Where the money came from was a mystery. He worked for Khol's, drove a motorcycle, and lived in his own house. His checking account hovered near zero and he didn't even have a savings account.

What is a Economics?


We are told by politicians that people spending money is a sign of a "healthy economy." But is it? What is a healthy economy in God's eyes? And what is economics anyway?

Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services according to Webster's dictionary. Goods are products such as televisions, ships, jeans, jewelry, ice cream, or bikes. Services include hair styling, banking, cleaning, interior decorating, or teaching. People make, sell, and buy goods and services day in and day out. In the process of all this producing, selling, and buying, money is exchanged. That's why we study money, inflation, debt, and interest too.

You see, economics is simple. It is just studying what people make and do and how those things are sold. Daily life is full of buying things. We go to work and produce things (goods) or do things (services) to make money.

Money is constantly flowing from one place to another. Imagine the dollar bill in your purse. Where has it been? Where is it going? Maybe it was a little boy's allowance and he used it to buy a candy bar at 7-11. The cashier gave it as change to your daughter when she bought a Big Gulp. Your daughter used it to pay your husband back the dollar she owed Daddy, but then he needed larger bills and traded you all the ones and fives in his wallet for a twenty dollar bill.