MANY clients tell me that they cannot sleep and suffering much because their creditors are hounding them day and night. The IRS has garnished their wages. They are being sued and their bank accounts levied upon. If you are in this situation, think of the sufferings that Job went through. Who is Job? He was a man who lived about 4,000 years ago and his story is contained in the oldest book of the Bible next to the book of Genesis. Job was probably the wealthiest man of his time. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters and owned the following: 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys and a large number of servants. He had it made. He was blessed with family, wealth and blessings of every kind imaginable. By today’s standards, he would be in the league of Steve Jobs (no relation) the owner of Apple who was worth 6 billion dollars when he died; Sam Walton, the owner of Walmart, and Bill Gates, the owner of Microsoft.
Job had it all. In addition, Job was a man of God and faithful to God. By God, we mean Yahweh, the God of Moses and Abraham, the one true God. My God, our God, the Creator of heaven and earth and the entire universe, who sent His only and beloved Son, Jesus to die for our sins. So, the devil tells God that Job is faithful to God only because He has blessed him with so much. God then responded that “you can do everything in your power to Job, but on the man himself, do not lay a finger.”
The devil took away everything that Job had. All his ten children died, as did all his sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys. All his servants left him because he had no money to pay their wages. Job lost everything, his family, wealth and everything else he was blessed with. Despite all his sufferings, Job did not lose his faith in God. He remained faithful to God and said that “I came into this world naked with nothing. The Lord gave and the Lord took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
So you think you are suffering greatly with too much debt because your creditors are going after you and your assets. What if you lost your entire family in the Boston bombing two days ago? Or, your legs got amputated because of injury from the bombs? Or, you are suddenly stricken with pancreatic cancer, or your kidneys suddenly stop working and you have to go on dialysis? What if you suddenly suffer a massive stroke and you are now a vegetable?
But since Job was faithful to God, God restored to Job double of everything he owned, and God gave him 7 more sons and 3 more daughters who were the most beautiful women in the world. One daughter became Ms. Universe, the other became Ms. Israel; the youngest daughter became Ms. World. Don’t worry about the first ten children who died. They are all in heaven. Job had ten children in heaven and ten children with him sharing his happiness and wealth. Job lived 140 years and lived with his children and his children’s children up to the fourth generation!
So I hope the story of Job will give you some perspective on your financial problems. Maybe God is testing you, just like he tested Job. Maybe you did not do anything wrong, just like Job. Maybe you are blameless just like Job, but God is testing you with sufferings just like He tested Job. If your faith remains strong with God and you do not blame Him for all your problems, He will restore you and double your blessings!
But you must also get rid of your debt if you can, otherwise, you will be a slave to debt. Do you owe a lot of credit card debt? You may need bankruptcy relief, Chapter 7 or 13.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.