Which of the following have you experienced?

A trip to the emergency room. A flat tire (or two). An unexpected, astronomical vet bill. Storm damage to your home. A broken appliance (not the toaster or the coffee maker…the refrigerator or the washing machine). A dead transmission. A notice that your rent is going up…a lot.

You may have personally dealt with one or two of these issues, or perhaps every single one of them. Either way, you know what they have in common: sticker shock. And if you don’t have a fully loaded emergency fund, you also know that awful feeling that can form in the pit of your stomach when you first set your eyes on an unexpected bill.

Sometimes the feeling can strike even if you do have some emergency savings. I know, because it recently happened to my husband and me.

Last week, we finally got around to making some long-overdue dentist appointments. After our initial exams, we found out that we both needed to have some work done—to the tune of $1,700—after insurance.

My heart sank.

We’ve been working hard, diligently paying off debt, and we have $1,000 stashed away in an emergency fund.

“But what about the other 700 bucks?!” I fumed as I read the dreaded tooth tab over and over.

It was frightening how quickly I lost faith, trust, and apparently all memories of the countless times God has come to our rescue. After I calmed down and allowed my husband to talk some sense into me, I began to think about the best ways to handle sticker shock.

Pray

So often, prayer is our last resort. What if it became our first course of action?

The God of the Bible is also the God of the universe. If He owns the earth and everything on it, can’t He provide for our every need? Praying puts our problems in proper perspective. It also gives us time to ask for wisdom. The worst sticker shock reaction is the hasty one that involves swiping plastic or borrowing large sums of money. The best reaction allows God to guide our hearts in a wise and biblical direction.

Plan

Now it’s time to break up that overwhelming bill into bite-sized pieces and attack it. But it won’t happen without a plan.

If the problem is bigger than the emergency fund, figure out which areas of the budget can be cut or temporarily scaled back in order to pay off the bill without going into debt.

Now is also the time to be honest and ask questions. For example, if you’re dealing with a large hospital bill, will the hospital knock off a few hundred dollars if you pay the remaining balance in cash? If not, will they allow you to go on a payment plan instead of paying all at once?

Make a plan, write it down, and don’t veer from it.

Remember

Chances are, this isn’t the first time you’ve been faced with a burden. That means that God has walked you through other trials, and you’ve come out alive. It may not have been easy, but you’re still breathing and you still have something to be thankful for.

If you keep a journal, now is the time to flip back through the pages and remember how God came through for you in the past. Did He put people in your life to help and encourage you? Did He provide some extra income? Did He teach you something valuable through the struggle?

Don’t make the mistake of forgetting the many ways the Lord has blessed you throughout your life. If He was there for you then, He’s there for you now. He promises to never leave you or forsake you. Now is the time to cling to that promise.

There’s no way around it: sticker shock stinks. But it doesn’t have to send us into a tailspin. The next time that unexpected bill pops up (and let’s be honest; it’s only a matter of time), try to pray, plan, and remember.

God is bigger than the biggest invoice in the world. He is certainly bigger than our problems, doubts, and fears.