The $400k Turnaround: God’s Debt-Elimination BlueprintSample

Day 1: I Thought Hustle Would Fix It (It Didn’t)

When I first totalled up all our debt—over $400,000—my instinct was to ‘hustle’ my way out.

To work harder. Sell everything I could find. Cut every expense. Do whatever it took to get that number down.

But here’s what surprised me: the more I hustled, the more overwhelmed I felt.

I was doing everything right on paper—budgets, side gigs, strategies—but I couldn’t shake the anxiety. There was this gnawing feeling that I was missing something deeper.

Turns out, I was.

Because debt doesn’t just mess with your wallet. It messes with your heart. And before God ever helped me change the numbers, He had to change the way I thought.

I had to stop treating this like a math problem and start treating it like a trust problem.

That’s when Proverbs 3:5 NIRV hit me hard. “Do not depend on your own understanding.” I was depending on spreadsheets, on late nights, on my own logic.

But what I hadn’t done was actually trust God with my finances.

Not in a vague, “Jesus take the wheel” kind of way—but in a real, daily, I-need-You-to-lead-this-budget kind of way.

I had to surrender the hustle. Not stop working—but stop trying to be my own provider.

For me, debt freedom didn’t begin with a payoff plan. It began with a trust shift.

Let’s pray:

God, Teach me how to truly trust You with my finances—especially when I am taking things in my own hands. Help me follow Your lead instead of just asking You to bless my plans.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.