So…my truck was broken into yesterday. In front of church of all places. You ever get hit with a moment where you realize something horrible just happened and you can’t do anything in your power to restore the situation?
That was yesterday for me.
Interesting enough, though, knowing that, I remained as calm as a mother taking her third born child to the emergency room. Maybe my life’s history of two previous break ins prepared me for this or, perhaps, it was simply because I was hanging out (ok…working) at God’s house. Or, maybe, just maybe, the powerful spirit of God was reminding me that a shattered window and three lifted iPods wasn’t a big deal.
And you know what? It wasn’t.
My insurance company already replaced my window and are working to cover the cost of the stoled iPods.
I’m reminded and challenged, in situations like this, that my reactions towards life’s unexpected hiccups are defining moments in my growing character. Am I responding in a way that reflects God in me? Or am I allowing my flesh to dictate my circumstances? Don’t get me wrong, we need to mourn losses. We are allowed to express our dissatisfaction with life. We have every right to storm out in anger when unfortunate incidents invade our lives.
I’m not saying we should bottle everything up and pretend like nothing happened.
I am saying that we often times dwell so much and too long on those things we have no control over. What we do have control over is how we respond. We can either choose to mope around and blame the world for our demise or we can mourn the loss and move on.
Yes…it sucks that my truck was broken into. Yes…I’m bummed that my iPods were lifted. Yes…it’s bothersome having to file police reports, call my insurance company and take time off of my day to get my window replaced.
But it’d suck even more if I didn’t move forward onto the things in life that matters more.
How about you?
Let’s talk.
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