The soul in debt cries out for a miracle to silence the creditors, to make the accounts vanish, to secure a new loan without trouble. But consider what miracle you truly need. John the Baptist worked no miracle, yet he fixed the attention of cities upon himself. Elias became admirable not first by calling down fire, but by his boldness toward the king, his zeal for God, his voluntary poverty, his cave and mountains. Job wrought no wonder before the devil’s eyes; it was a life shining like adamant that made the adversary marvel. David, when young, raised no dead and cleansed no leper; yet God said, I have found a man after mine own heart. Miracles, if we are not sober, often do harm. Many Corinthians were divided by signs; many Romans grew proud; Simon was cast out. The desire for a marvel can itself be a snare, while love of virtue takes such desire away.
You ask for the harassment to cease, for peace from the voices that disrupt your household. Peace is indeed the mother of all good things, the foundation of joy. Christ commanded the Apostles to enter houses saying, Peace be unto you. Where peace is wanting, everything is useless. The peacemakers are called sons of God; the makers of disturbance are sons of the devil. But examine whether you seek peace as the world gives it, or as Christ bestows it. The peace Christ gives is not absence of trial but a soul reconciled to God, standing firm amid the storm. The creditors may call, but if your mind is at rest, their noise cannot overthrow you. If all your thoughts are at rest, peace exists, even when outward things clamor.
You fear the shame brought upon your family, the threats of legal action, the jeopardy to your new employment. These are not small afflictions, and I do not mock them. But hear what is truer shame: to owe a debt of sin and not to tremble; to be harassed by the devil and not to cry out. God permits these external pressures often to rouse the soul from deeper slumber. The Ninevites feared the threat of destruction and repented, and the threat stopped at words only. If they had despised the warning, they would have experienced the reality. So it is with you. Become a better man, sober and watchful, and these trials may become only a threat that never reaches full execution. Despise the warning, grow slothful in spirit, and the thing feared draws nearer. The righteous man, seeing the vengeance on the ungodly, washes his hands, not rejoicing in their pain, but fearing lest he suffer the same, he makes his own life purer. This sharp trial may be the very goad that drives you to purity.
Do not set your hope chiefly on a personal loan appearing without hassle, as though that were the sum of God’s intervention. He often works salvation by withdrawing what we clutch, that we may cling to Him. The apostles were put in bonds, and their disciples grew more confident, seeing that the preaching was not hindered. Can you bind the tongue? Paul in chains preached with greater boldness. If God permits these debts to press upon you a season longer, it may be that your soul, like Paul’s, will speak the louder, shine the brighter. The miracle of a life sustained in affliction is greater than the miracle of affliction suddenly removed.
But you have asked, and I will not send you away empty of counsel. First, make peace with God by true repentance. The Son of God came to set at peace the things in earth and in heaven. If you are at war with Him through unconfessed sin, no financial settlement can give you rest. Then, let your conduct toward those you owe be marked by humility and truth. You say you have paid more than you borrowed; if that is so, speak honestly with them, without guile, as one approved by God, not seeking to please men. Yet take care that this claim be not a self-deception; the heart is deceitful. If you owe justly, acknowledge it and promise what you can, even if it is little. A righteous man speaks truth and leaves the outcome to God.
Do not fix your mind on a total closing of accounts by miracle. Pray rather for strength to endure whatever comes, whether continued calls, legal threats, or even visitation to your home. If these come, they are not beyond the permission of the One who proves our hearts. Job lost everything, then was visited with boils and reproachful friends, yet he would not curse God. His endurance was firmer than adamant. The Lord does not always still the storm; sometimes He stills the disciple within the storm. That is the greater wonder.
Labor to keep your new employment with diligence and integrity. The creditors threaten to contact your friends and family; this is a deep trial, for shame before loved ones cuts keenly. Yet consider: if they see you bearing this affliction with patience, confessing your faults where you have erred, working honestly to repay what you can, your witness may do more good than a life without trouble ever could. The apostles were made a spectacle to angels and men; their disgrace before the world was their glory before God. Your family’s peace is not truly disrupted by a creditor’s call but by the fear and anger that call provokes in your heart. Quench that fire within, and the outward flame cannot spread.
Pray, yes, but pray with this mind: Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass; nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done. Ask for a loan if it may be had honestly and without the crushing interest that enslaves the poor. But if the door remains shut, do not conclude God has forsaken you. He often shuts one door to open the eye of the soul. The moist fig tree withered at His word to show His power to punish, and also to teach His disciples. Your barren hopes may need to wither that you may learn to trust in Him alone.
Let your household be a place of prayer and sober living. Each believer has an angel, and a demon is present also. The angel of peace attends where the heart makes room. Drive away the demon of disturbance by giving thanks in all things, by ceasing from murmuring, by speaking gently to those in your home. A quiet spirit in the master of the house often stills the whole atmosphere more than a paid debt.
Do not despair. The sea-walking miracle was too great for the multitude; Jesus showed Himself to the disciples only briefly upon the waves. Some deliverances are private, for those who follow closely. Stay close to the Lord in the little ship of your daily duty. He who rebuked the wind and waves can rebuke the storm of debt and harassment in His time, whether by providing means or by lifting the burden from your soul while the outward circumstance remains. That is the greater miracle, and it is offered to all who cry out with faith.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
