Facing Pressure with God's Help

Being under pressure is a subject I seem to be hearing a lot about these days, whether in the news or in daily conversations with friends and clients. In the mortgage business I regularly interact with people who have a wide variety of financial needs, and I’m asked about ways to achieve financial good health. I like to consider both emotional well-being (making good decisions) as well as the bottom line.

Our success or failures can be related to how we react to pressure. Do you have a general pattern for reacting to pressure? Maybe you become cranky (or worse), play the avoidance game, or even fall apart entirely?

In our general day to day life we may feel the pressures pushed down on us, even as we believe and walk with the Lord. If life seems to be treating us well and the devil isn’t putting too much pressure on us, then we’re ok. But how do we react when the big problems crop up? Do we take our tension or anxiety out on our loved ones, co-workers or the boss at work, or even on strangers?

The best way to live more stress free is to “cast all of (our) cares on the Lord”, Peter 5:7. We may struggle with this at times, but when faced with adversity or pressure, this is the only way to become free of the anxieties and not feel overwhelmed by them. “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:4,6

Kenneth Hagin gives some great advice on how to handle pressure by listening to the voice of God, focusing on Him and asking Him for direction. I’ve paraphrased his major points and hope you find these words helpful:

Maintain focus on God: Instead of seeing only the negative and what’s going wrong in our life, and having a feeling of hopelessness, we need to focus on God and believe that our situation CAN have a positive result. Replace worry and doubt with faith. As in ISAIAH 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Have you had a minor challenge grow into a major problem because you focused solely on it, and soon it grew bigger and worse than at the start? We need to look to God and His Word to give us peace through these turbulent times. “Whatever is impossible with man, is possible with God” (Matt. 19:26) No one can control your thoughts other than you; your success and how you react to different situations is controlled by you. But with the focus on God, and not on the negatives we’re dealing with, we shall rise above these pressures.

Our own potential in God: We can focus on the potential we have in God, and not on any weaknesses we have. We can’t accomplish many things in our own strength alone. But we can accomplish anything with God’s help, “…let the weak say, I am strong.” Joel 3:10 Let’s make “I am strong” a daily affirmation. This belief of “us in God” will see us through adversity or crisis. We can overcome circumstances with our potential in God. Hebrews 12 can shed some more light.

What is God Saying: I’m sure we’ve all experienced the situation where we were talking to someone and realized that the person was not hearing a word we were saying, even though the person was standing right in front of us. His mind was wandering and not paying attention to what we had to say. Well, God talks all the time, but, are we listening while He speaks? The main way God speaks is through His Word. But do we take the time to find and read His Word while under pressure? We can find strength and peace in His Word. And with prayer and focused thinking on the Word, God will show us the path to take to walk through the difficult time. “…and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live …” Isaiah 55:3


Talk about God: “…talk ye of all his wondrous works.” Psalm 105:2 The Book of Psalms is filled with many different writers talking about the vastness of God, His goodness, and more. When under pressure, or experiencing adversity, it’s the perfect time for us to talk about who He is and how big He is. This talking about God being bigger than anything else puts the devil in his place. As we talk we will be refreshed anew and the pressure will be relieved.

No matter how dim the future may look, God is bigger. No matter what other negative comments people may make, God can bring you through. With Him all is possible.


So as this summer begins, and our busy lives go full throttle; we may get bogged down with the negative daily news reports, maybe even experience the pain of a lost job. Whatever causes the pressure, remain steadfast in your faith and remember:
“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” Psalm 18:28-29


At InSight Mortgage Group, we strive to bring integrity to the mortgage loan business and treat all our customers according to the Golden Rule. Whatever your financial situation may be, we will work to find you the best solution. Please call us at 913-642-3334, or email us at michele@wantinsight.com or dickw@wantinsight.com . Blessings.

Facing Crisis with Faith and Trust

I’ve blogged in the past about positive attitude and taking personal responsibility for maintaining a focus on fiscal steadfastness. I want to share with you some wisdom that addresses these same issues. These thoughts are from the pastor of my church. No matter what your particular faith may be, the impact of facing crisis with trust and faith in God gives each of us hope and peace in these turbulent times.

To paraphrase his words: Bail out, recession, layoffs, and foreclosure -- all are media headline material, and it’s hard to ignore that a national and global crisis exists. Most of us are impacted by, or know someone being impacted by, our current economic crisis. There are different types of crisis we encounter in daily life. It’s not a matter of IF a crisis will come, but WHEN it will come. It could be when a death of a family member occurs, a job is lost, someone we care about is assaulted, a divorce, or a diagnosis of cancer.

How do we respond to this? What is a biblical response to crisis? We need to look to the response we choose when crisis comes, no matter the cause of the crisis.

Pastor Anderson shares wonderful passages and stories of persevering, standing firm in faith, a biblical response to crisis. He talks of four central truths about God and these affirmed in the face of any crisis, will help us have a Godly response to crisis:

1. God is in control
2. God has a plan for the world
3. God has a plan for me
4. I can trust God

I encourage you to click on the link provided to listen to the sermon “Trusting God in the Face of Crisis”:
http://vineyardop.org/Site Resources/Modules/MinistryTools/Sermon/default.asp

As always, any of us here at InSight Mortgage Group will be happy to assist you with your mortgage needs or questions. Please call us at 913-642-3334 or email me at michele@wantinsight.com May God bring you peace now and in your time of crisis.

How did we get into the mortgage crisis and how can we get out?

Many industries have played a role in getting us into this mess. Lenders expanded their guidelines so that more people could qualify for loans, even if they did not have the means to repay the loan. It meant that many Americans that once could have never afforded a home loan, would now have the American dream; temporarily anyway. Even Congress and President Bush believed that everyone should own a home and encouraged lenders to loan to lower income families. A popular saying was, if someone could breathe, they could get a loan.

Realtors, appraisers, builders, loan originators, developers, and title companies all saw this time period as an opportunity to make money. Even the home buyers thought of this as an opportunity to buy a larger house than they had ever imagined; either in hopes of reselling for a profit down the road, or just to keep up with the Jones’. Scripture 1 Timothy 6:10 says that “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. Many people wandered from their true faith and brought on hardship. Email michele@wantinsight.com for more InSight.

There was a sequence of events that contributed to the time line of these market changes. Some believe it started with the Twin Towers collapse on September 11, 2001. Shortly after, the federal government cut taxes and sent rebates to Americans, encouraging the American people to spend more, in order to fight terrorism. Alan Greenspan cut the discount rate to 1 percent and announced that adjustable rate mortgages were a positive choice. Mortgage companies and lenders threw themselves into creative finanancing. They created ARMs, Option ARMs, 100% financing loans, teaser rate loans, no-doc loans, , and negative amortization loans. The availability of new loans created an immediate demand in housing; upgrading into larger homes and buying new construction. The value of homes started to increase rapidly which led to investors speculating and flipping homes with plans to immediately resell for a profit. This value increase also led to many Americans taking the equity out of their homes with second mortgages in order to spend the money on unnecessary possessions. No wonder we are in such a mess! Visit our website www.wantinsight.com for more information.

The government has stepped in once again, and will hopefully ease the housing and credit crisis, by lowering mortgage rates and allowing greater availability of credit for consumers. Lending standards will not ease though. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will keep a close eye on underwriting practices, and fees for borrowers with weaker credit histories will remain in effect. Their primary goal is to increase the availability of mortgage finance while remaining proactive in the processes. Fannie and Freddie are crucial to the turn-around.

The consequences of this market will be seen for years to come. What is the good that will come from all of this? Now is the time to really teach and equip the Church and others financial and biblical stewardship. Americans need to learn how to live within their means and avoid debt, including their mortgage. Our prayer is to see a steady increase in the number of God’s children become 100% debt free by connecting them to different ministries. Bart Nill with Crown Financial Ministries and Matt Schoenfeld of Abundant Life Ministries play an active role in helping InSight’s customers move towards financial freedom. InSight Mortgage Group’s foundational principals are based on biblical principles taught by Kingdom Advisors, an organization that equips the Christian financial professional as well as an Integrity Resource Center. Kingdom Advisors is a ministry teaching business that shows leaders how to walk out their faith in the marketplace with integrity and accountability. Email michele@wantinsight.com or call 913-642-3334 for more information.

Michele "MAC" Cole
michele@wantinsight.com
913-642-3334