I wish I could help you, but your situation is beyond my knowledge or expertise. Let me just share some thoughts that come to me.

1) There is an interesting promise in Joel 2:25. The prophet speaks of a plague of locusts as having been a judgment of the Lord on His sinful people, Israel. But then Joel speaks of their repentance and turning to the Lord. Then comes the promise: I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. In other words, even though God’s people have been devastated through God’s judgment, He promises to restore them. I don’t know if this resonates with you, but I would encourage you to read the chapter and claim this promise for yourselves. 2) I would encourage you to ask the Lord to send you a spiritual mentor who will do more than pity you and promise prayer. You need someone to walk beside you as the Lord helps you work through this issue. The Lord wants to deliver you, but money is never the basic issue. He wants to teach you new dimensions of dependence on Him; new understanding of faith; new awareness of who He is and what He can do.

3) It seems to be that you need a financial advisor. People face these issues all the time: for some it is a disaster of some kind, through no fault of their own; for others, it is a matter of unfortunate decisions. But for hardworking folks like yourselves, there is always a way out. A financial advisor can help you understand bankruptcy policies and laws, for example. I’m not sure that high interest “payday loans” are the best choice – but the people who know money can guide you in this. I think that an advisor of this kind, especially if he is a believer, can give you very helpful clues as to how to deal with this huge mountain of debt that hangs over you.

I am the president of a mission agency that has to trust the Lord for $7 million each year. I am no “fund raiser.” As I began my tenure last October, I believe that the Lord gave me a promise: 2 Cor 9:8, which I would like to share with you: But God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. You can read the context and see what Paul is talking about. Greg, I hang on to that verse every day. I have it written on a white board behind my desk and I read and pray it each morning. So far He has kept our financial head above water and even has enabled me to give bonuses to my staff who haven’t had a raise in several years.

Bless you, my brother. I wish I could do more for you, but that’s all that comes to me at this time.

Let me know how you make out. Greetings to you wife and daughters.

In His Grace,