“I Can’t Afford Not to Work!”
Written By Nancy Campbell
I often hear mothers say, “I wish that this [being a stay-at-home mom] was the case for me, but we can’t afford for me to stay home.” Why are these words such a common reply? I think it is because we feel we must take things into our own hands to make it work. We don’t think that God is able! That’s the bottom line.
That’s rather challenging, isn’t it? Especially when we read the words in Psalm 78:19-22: “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? . . . Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? . . . Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth… because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.”
When we don’t believe that God can provide, we are really confessing that we don’t trust Him and that He is not sufficient for our needs. And yet, isn’t He God? The God of the universe. The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The God who has promised to provide for the fruit of the womb.
I know it can be scary when you wonder where the next meal is coming from. And we all go through seasons, just as Paul did (Philippians 4:11-13). There were times when he abounded and times when he was abased. We’ve faced the same thing many times. I remember one time when we had no money coming in and I thought that I would help the situation! Help, Nancy Campbell didn’t trust God! Shame!
I could never imagine my getting a full-time job out of the home, but I thought I’d do a few cleaning jobs to bring in a little extra (my children were mostly grown by this time). I was dutifully doing this when a woman of God challenged me. She said I was blaspheming God’s Word and not being an example to the younger women. At first, I was indignant. “Who does she think she is?” I thought. “She doesn’t know our situation.”
But then the Holy Spirit used her words to speak into my heart. I realized she was right! I confessed my sin and unbelief and immediately stopped these little jobs that took me out of the home. The amazing thing is that it didn’t change a thing! I noticed no difference when I was trying to bring in extra money than when I trusted God! God could do better than what I could do!
Why is it we think we can do a better job than God? God doesn’t require sacrifice but obedience. When we obey Him and trust Him, we experience His faithfulness. That doesn’t mean we will always be abounding, but we will never starve!
To the dear mothers who are still working and yet long to be home, I want to encourage you. Please, take a step of faith and obedience. You will wait for the rest of your life for the circumstances to be right before you can come home! Your circumstances will never be perfect. You will never think you have enough money without your wage. You need to take a step of faith. You must act in obedience. Give your notice and then you will see what God can do.
While you try to do it in your own strength, God steps back and lets you do it your way. He can only show you His faithfulness and His provision when you let Him take over! Try it and see! I would love to hear the hundreds of testimonies from those who have seen God’s provision as they have taken this step of faith.
Instead of “We can’t afford for me to stay home, “my husband always said, “I can’t afford for my wife to leave the home. Too much is at stake!”
When the mother is out of the home, the enemy and destroyer of souls has a chance to influence our children. We, as mothers, are watch dogs of our children and our homes. A watch dog is of no worth if he is not at home. We can’t leave our post. Our children, the nation, and future generations are dependent on us!
Be blessed today, Nancy Campbell
Here is a video of how a young family of almost four children have learned to live on one small income.
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3 thoughts on ““I Can’t Afford Not to Work!””
My own mother went to work leaving the TV as babysitter. My younger sisters are both divorced, childless train wrecks incapable of accepting male authority. If Satan had planned this I would not be surprised.
45 years later we have women who can’t cook, clean, grow vegetables, or sew.
Our story…
My husband & I got married when he was 21, and I was 20. Because of how different our answers were on the questionaire, the pre marital counselor said that he forsaw problems for us in our marriage. One of the issues was on a working mother. His mom worked with 5 children, but my mom stayed home with 7 children. He wanted me to work, so I did. I worked full time for 2 years and then our first son was born. That was so hard going back to work after he was born, but I carried the health insurance. I thought that I had to keep working, and that’s just what my husband wanted. I dropped down to part time with me working the 5-9 am shift, and he would head to work when I got home. I was still nursing, so that shift was difficult. I eventually adjusted. Our next son was born 22 months later. I worked up until my due date. During my maternity leave, my husband was laid off from his job. I looked at him and said that I could go back to work, but in those roughly 5 years of my working, the Lord had been working on my husband’s heart.
I gave my notice with fear & trepidation because of no jobs, no money and no health insurance. My husband took whatever odd jobs he could and ended up at a temp agency. He would work wherever the agency sent him. We were considered low income, and we were eligible for WIC and food stamps. I also got food from a food pantry and second hand clothes from family & friends. We were given love gifts from our church family. My husband eventually landed a job at a company that needed a cad draftsman but hadn’t put an ad in the paper yet. When my husband walked in there and asked for a job, his future boss was surprised because he said that he was just getting ready to post the position. That was the Lord answering my husband’s prayer. I believe because my husband honored the Lord and brought me home, the Lord gave him that job. I’ve been a stay at home mom ever since. We had 6 children which we homeschooled (another step of faith), and God has been faithful through thick and thin. My beloved husband ended up health issues: going through diabetes at 30, heart attack and bypass at 46 and being diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer at 52. The Lord took him home when he was 53 during covid. That was 4 years ago now, and I can say that the Lord has always been faithful to provide for me and my family. My husband was a strong man of God and wonderful father who raised up 5 sons and a daughter to believe that a woman’s place was in the home. It’s biblical. All of my children are serving the Lord in some capacity. It has not always been easy, but we have never gone without. God is faithful.
We live on one income, and God has provided for us time and time again! I am able to stay home with my little one and be obedient and serve my husband and household. All to the glory of God!