Where's Your Death-Grip?

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."  ... Isaiah 41:10

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Last week Tom and I watched an episode of a favorite crime show where an older couple bought their dream home, worked on it, then the wife secretly did something financial (I'm not certain as to what), which appeared good, but soon proved to be a disaster, mostly due to a selfish loan company's president. 

Sadly, the husband returned from work and discovered his wife, dead in the garage, due to self-inflicted carbon monoxide poisoning.

Soon we see this husband and two of his friends (also unfairly treated), down at the loan company demanding to see the president, but without his friends' knowledge,  he brought along gasoline and a lighter--and not just as an incentive for the president to listen to these men's stories--but rather, he was determined to kill himself over his wife's death.

Good gracious. Afterward I told Tom, "You know what I like about us? If we were to lose this house, we would have fun fixing up a little rental apartment. No house on the planet is worth killing ourselves over."

And Tom agreed.

You know Tom's new company? It's struggling. Things keep falling apart, shutting down. A couple of the bosses said, "One more major shut-down and we may have to close down the plant forever. We can't afford to keep doing all these huge repairs." They even had a fire a couple weeks ago (Tom said it's the scariest thing he's ever faced) and then this past week another major shut-down.

The guys Tom works with are scared.

But really? I'm not. God is bigger than all this and He's an excellent provider for His kids, His family. Tom and I witnessed that provision over those 20 months of unemployment--we watched Him handle anything we placed into His hands. He cared about each need, no matter how small, for He is that loving.

Yet where we all get into trouble? It's those death-grip holds we place around temporary things. You know, our dream houses, jobs, money, cars, furniture, gardens, books, stuff and even people. It's those bold statements we make, "If I lose ________, I'll die!" "If I'm fired from my job, I won't have enough money to keep living!" "If I have to sell (that sentimental item) I'll never get over it. Never!"

So, uh, no. Not gonna go there. Instead, I'll choose to rely upon God's goodness and the way He restores what others tried to steal.




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"I have been young and now I am old and I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging for bread."  ... Psalm 37:25

"... for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."  ... Philippians 4:11


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"This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through..."   ... copied

Oh! And did you hear that, beginning today, Dollar Tree will now accept manufacturer coupons? Wow! Here is their new coupon policy.

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