“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You should be in charge of my palace, and all my people who are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.’ ” Genesis 41:39-40

Based on the U.S. government website TreasuryDirect.gov, each of the last three presidents have seen the country’s debt rise from the time they went into office until the time they left.

Have you ever been in significant credit card or consumer debt? If so, you may have felt extreme stress when creditors started to call or when your spouse is asking you where you will get the money for groceries or gas. Debt is extremely disheartening for an individual or family attempting to get by. Proverbs 22:7 says, “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.” The United States of America is a slave to its debtors and we will, one day, reap the consequences of our lack of fiscal discipline.

In order to turn this around, it may take a president who gives us “medicine” we do not want to take. It will taste bad, but it will be good for us. The only way to accomplish this daunting task is for everyone in government to spend less. Spending less means less government programs that will benefit average Americans. This may be difficult but God has made people very resilient and we can get through it.

Joseph was a Hebrew in ancient times that faced a similar situation. You can read about him in Genesis 37-50. Through circumstances only God could have orchestrated, this young Jewish man found himself second-in-command to Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Egypt, and the surrounding regions, went through a severe famine. God gave Joseph the foresight to save during the years of plenty to have enough during the years of famine. It is a wonderful example for us, individually and as a nation, of how we should obey God in the realm of money and possessions.

What can we do? Create margin in your personal budget; if the U.S. government may need to take away a government program you depend on or remove a tax incentive, you will be able to weather the “financial storm.” Vote for the leaders you believe will best have fiscal discipline and make the difficult decisions. Finally, pray for our political leaders that God will give them the courage to do what is right and not only what will contribute to their re-election.