Here we are, Thanksgiving 2017. Many, many months from the last day my husband had a normal job and yet I AM THANKFUL! I’m thankful for a long list of reasons because I know in one instant my life can change and the things I count as troubles now may not hold a candle to what tragedy or sadness can bring.
This morning I jumped out of bed and started all the things on my to-do list to make hosting my children a success; peeling potato’s, baking cornbread, throwing towels in the wash, reading my Bible and praying, layering beds with extra blankies and cleaning up an army of dust bunnies! While I waited on the oven timer to buzz, I scrolled through Facebook (just to read up on the happenings) and watched a video of a big truck busting through a convenience store. The driver rammed through the glass, backed up and rammed again. He kept pushing his way around the store knocking down everything in his path. The truck spun and twisted around, still the driver floored it to get to his prize. The video lasts quite a bit of time and I stood there thinking of his obvious desperation.
What makes a person so desperate?
I cannot answer. I know for me, I’ve felt all the burden of how we were going to keep living the last 15 months. Living is one thing, paying for all the things that must be paid while you’re here on earth is another. Bills are real. No one cares (lenders, that is) that you’re unemployed with no job in sight. Pay up! One thing I’ve repeated to myself a thousand times this last year is that WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES to lose a job! People are hurting all around us, jobloss….illness…..loneliness.
Feelings like that make us desperate.
I admit, I’ve never wanted to rob a store or sell drugs or steal something of value that someone else worked hard to attain. That’s not how I’m wired but I know the world is full of scoundrels who think nothing of smashing out your car windows for a cell-phone or wallet. The guy tearing up all of creation with his big truck just to get to an ATM machine falls into that group. His desperation, greed or just insanity lulled him into a scenario that I wonder if he now regrets.
I saw a news segment this week about 2 ladies working at a convenience store here in Indiana that spent their entire shift peeling off Lotto tickets and scratching away. The video goes on all night of the two genius crazies yelling back and forth when they hit a winner. They even hit the register and paid themselves when the ticket offered a prize. The owner of the store was interviewed and said the employees blew through around $20,000 dollars worth of Hoosier Lotto. They even played the games on the Lotto register!
Desperation.
I caught myself saying, “What were they thinking?!”.
People, we live in a world full of desperate folks. I bet if you thought about it honestly, you could pull up your own dance with desperation. It might not look like driving your vehicle through a store or stealing lotto tickets but it might look more like rearranging things to your advantage when you should just leave well enough alone. Or perhaps, you’ve jumped in a parking space someone had their blinker on for (filthy animal!)..maybe you’ve bought up all the best sale items and left none for anyone else. Did you know that was greed? Probably not, because that is our new society.
Get yours and then some.
Who cares about anyone else?
Look, I’m no different than anyone else on this earth except that I have the LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST inside of me and I want to please HIM with my life and choices.
I don’t drive my car through a store because that’s not the way to get paid. I don’t steal lotto because I trust God to provide for me minus the video action of it being played out on the local news. I don’t go in and wipe out all the cokes, cute boots or hot toy item of the season because my greed isn’t going to bless anyone I know or don’t know.
I wonder what our world would be like if we were all desperate for Christ instead of all the things we place value on in this earthly journey? How awesome would it be? There are people all over this planet who cannot openly love Jesus! It’s literally a life-endangering truth. Meanwhile, we wander around ignoring God and much of what He graciously blesses us with every single day.
Have you thought to thank God today? Have you stopped for one minute and imagined your life without the love of God? Or for your loving family? Healthy parents? Warm house? Fridge full of the best foods? A fancy car to drive to all the Black Friday sales? Money to spend there?
We have so much to be thankful for and I’m not preaching to anyone but myself here. I am all hyped up on all the cooking and game-playing time I’m planning to do this week with my grown-up kids. Still, I don’t want to miss a chance to be desperate for Christ.
Everything I have, do or ever will be is because of Him.