Before You Buy - Wait

Love you all, praying for you,
 
The hardest thing to do when buying something – is to decide – “Who will decide?”  Then to ask God about the why, the what, the when, and the how.  And next, the hardest thing to do before you buy – is to wait.  Because you want it right now, you need it, you think you need it, God told you to buy it, or you think God told you to buy it, and you think that’s right now.  Or you saw a sign that said. “Sale.” But before you buy  - it’s better to wait.  Just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean God has it for you. Or it’s His best.  Buy One Get One Free, is not always a deal, nor God’s best for you. If you don’t need one, two doesn’t make it better.  You could give one away so if God tells you, then do it, but especially when it comes to two of something you don’t need, better to wait.  Equally, the best price doesn’t make it the best deal, or the best God has for you, better to wait.  One Day Sales are rarely one day only, nor did God ever say they are the determining factor of God’s timing.  They are designed to motivate you to buy, before you planned to buy – and they work, or businesses would stop using them.  Some people are led by the Sale, not led by the Spirit.  God said His people are led by the Spirit, not by what’s on sale.  Sometimes buying in bulk, before the sale runs out – is not God’s will for you.  In fact, God doesn’t need it to be on sale.  If You own all the stuff, and all the stores, and all the money, you can give your children whatever you want, whenever it is best for them, and you don’t worry about the price.  Sometimes God will tell you pay full price – because He wants to bless the seller, and you are just stewarding His money for Him.  Better to wait.  The best tool we have found before you buy.  Is the 30-Day-List.  It takes you from buying mode, to best mode.  List your Top 6 ‘wants’ (above and beyond monthly expenses) in priority order.  Wait 30 Days, and then only buy the first thing on the list.  If ever number two or number three replace number one on the priority list, restart the 30-day clock.  You will be shocked at what disappears as a priority within a mere 30 days.  What you thought you absolutely had to buy today (that one day sale) doesn’t even make the top 6 a month later.  Often God provides that need in a completely different way - without you having to spend any money to purchase it.  Someone might have one that they are not using, and they give it to you.  OK, maybe not a house or a car, but many other items, God provides miraculously.  Often you no longer need that thing – because a far greater priority arises, that makes the first desired purchase – not even of interest anymore.  God knew it, you just didn’t at the time.  The 30-Day List works – it has literally saved us thousands of dollars over the years.  Everything you buy should be a testimony and not just of the price.  God doesn’t want to bless you at the expense of someone else.  Sometimes He will tell you to pay full price.  The 30 Day List – removes impulse buying.  And it does something far beyond delayed gratification.  It shifts your thinking from the things of the world and your perceived need for them, to the things of heaven – what you really need most.  If you’re waiting 30 days for it, you’re no longer obsessed with facebook market place, craigslist, amazon or ebay.  Your mind is set free to pursue other things - what God has for you today to think and do, and give, and pray today.  If you don’t use a 30 day list, all you’ll get is what you buy.  That’s not a testimony – everyone does that.  90 Days is not the same as cash.  Bring the cash in 90 days.  By then God may have given you something ten times better!  Or it might not even matter.  So first, before you buy - wait.  Use the 30 Day List.  Second – be in absolute unity with your spouse.  God is big enough to move their heart.  If you’re not in agreement, that’s Him telling you to wait.  If you don’t have a 4C’s Tool, you don’t even know what you have available, you’re just guessing, and feelings are often deceiving.  And just because you both agree, doesn’t mean it’s God’s best for you, Better to wait.  The 30 Day List – helps!  Finally, even when the 30 days has come to that first purchase, you have the money saved, and are in full agreement, wait 24 hours.  Let God give you counsel in the night season.  That principle too, has saved us thousands of dollars.  He’ll save you from hasty speculation, that leads to poverty, of the spirit and the bank account.  If you will just wait… He will lead you to the best decision, at the price He chooses, which is the best price (not just the lowest price) and at the best time.  These are the testimonies you want!  The purchases that He leads you to.  Money conversations with God shape and form your heart.  If you will wait on Him He will absolutely give you His best.  Many people buy what they want, when the feel they need it.  And if you do, you will never know what God could do.  You just get what you bought.  And those payments keep coming.  Or the laughable testimony that God had for you, is forfeited for the short-lived pleasure of a purchase which lasts about as long as a vapor.  Praying that your 30 Day List will become a tradition in your marriage and in your family, that the 24 hour rule will become a habit, and that you will be in fully unity as husband and wife.  That you will know where God’s money is, so you can do what He tells you to do with it.  That you will be wiling to wait on Gods best.  And better than that – that you will wait on Him, more than you wait to buy that next thing.  Praying that Before you buy – you will be willing to wait – until God provides in His perfect time.  If you’ve ever done that, then you know the ridiculous testimony it brings.  Praying you won’t settle for premature things, they are never the best thing – just a thing.  Praying that you will wait on the LORD, not just wait on more stuff.  He will renew your strength, you will mount up with wings like eagles, you will run and not grow weary, you will walk in will not faint.  The joy of the LORD will be your strength, and His joy far exceeds the joy of any earthly thing you could ever buy. Better to wait.  
 
Love you all,
dad