This summer, my husband and I considered changing our names to Lemony Snicket and Alexander, because at the end of July, I had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day when I was notified that my employment contract was terminated. Then, the Series of Unfortunate Events continued, as on the following Tuesday, my husband was blindsided by losing his job after almost a decade of loyal service. This was the first time since college that we were both unemployed at the same time.
This season has had the absolute capacity to break us, and I’d be lying to you if I didn’t admit that it came pretty close.
In less than a week, we went from a comfortable, two-income household to one facing immediate, daunting financial uncertainty. The shock was visceral. We have bills, including rent, that if even five days late, the apartment manager threatens eviction in writing.
And all of this is stressful beyond words, but what levels the situation up in gamer speak—we have three children.
It felt like the life we meticulously built was crumbling beneath our feet. Our first impulse was to panic, to check bank balances frantically, and to calculate how quickly we’d run out of savings. We thought we had been doing everything right. We worked hard and saved money diligently.
I noticed something amid my anxiety attack. I tend to pray less when things are good. For me, this has been a wake-up call, and I need to communicate with God more and not just when things are bad.
I needed to trust and surrender to His will, and I needed to revisit what it means to be a supportive helpmate to my husband. This experience has been rough. Faith and prayer, we have been reminded, work together in times such as these and are the anchors for keeping our marriage unshakable.
In those first few days, the atmosphere in our home was thick with anxiety. We walked on eggshells, each of us silently wrestling with our own fears. The stages of grief cycled through many times, leaving us stuck in anger and blaming the economy, the companies, and ourselves. It was easy to let the stress turn outward and create distance between us just when we needed each other the most.
The enemy loves nothing more than to use financial stress as a wedge in a marriage.
But in the quiet of our living room, after a particularly tense conversation about the utility bills and groceries, we realized we were fighting the wrong battle. This financial trial wasn’t just about money; it was a test of where the true source of our security is.
It became apparent to us that we needed to lay the entire situation before God. It wasn’t a request for an immediate job, but a plea for peace and direction. It was a declaration of surrender, confessing that we didn’t have the answers, but He did. This became our first intentional step toward letting faith, not fear, guide our summer.
We prayed that His will be done in our lives and that every choice, action, or inaction we made would be to His honor and glory. This is when the dust began to settle.
We learned that trusting God isn’t a passive act of hoping things will get better; it’s an active discipline. We adopted two key practices that anchored our marriage:
Every morning, before checking emails or job boards, we take the time to pray. We thank God for what we have: our health, our home, our children, and each other; and we specifically petition Him for our needs with thanksgiving in our hearts. This routine re-centered us, ensuring that our day starts with gratitude and alignment rather than anxiety.
The Bible is our lifeline. In this time of financial insecurity, we have clung to verses that speak directly to our situation, reminding ourselves of God’s unchanging character. My favorite scripture is Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV). It says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
This promise of peace that transcends understanding is a palpable gift we experience when we consistently choose prayer over panic.
Financial stress often exposes differences in spending habits and values. For us, this trial forced an unprecedented level of financial unity. We reviewed every expense, making painful but necessary cuts.
We made every decision together. There is no “my money” or “your money,” only “our resources,” which are ultimately “God’s resources” that He provides to us. We are then charged with being good stewards of that provision.
This transparency and shared sacrifice deepens our trust in each other. By trusting God to provide, we are free to be more generous with one another, offering grace instead of judgment when a job interview doesn’t go as planned or when the bills feel overwhelming.
We’ve seen miracles in how our resources stretch, and we recognize that God has been using this time not to punish us, but to purify our reliance on Him.
While the summer was financially lean, it was spiritually rich. We were forced to slow down, to appreciate the simple gift of time together, and to reconnect with the core values that truly matter. We had fewer distractions, which allowed us to listen more intently to God’s guidance.
Through this experience, we have learned that sometimes, God lets these things happen to make room for our betterment. My husband has reconnected with a former boss who will be bringing him on to his company in the next couple of months.
This is where he is meant to be, and if we weren’t in panic and run mode, they would not have connected. We know that this was God’s doing and are so very grateful.
Our marriage is stronger not because we survived a challenge, but because we intentionally chose to put God in the center of it. We learned that God is faithful to His promises, and that true security is not found in a 401 (k) or a paycheck, but in the love and provision of our Heavenly Father.
A helpful biblical reminder of how faith and prayer help keep marriage unshakable is Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV): “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. God’s presence is that third strand.
If you’re facing a season of financial uncertainty, I encourage you to make the pivot. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).
Remember, sometimes, the bottom dropping out is simply God clearing the space for a much stronger, more eternal foundation.