"Stuff"
Aug 28, 2020
Sometimes stuff happens....last week, we had to buy a new dryer. The old one began to shake and clank like a San Francisco trolley car! This week my hubby is driving home from helping do hurricane cleanup in his 8-year-old truck, and the truck suddenly loses its ability to accelerate. He got home safely, but what usually is a five-hour trip took him over ten hours. We were able to get the truck repaired but received a four-digit repair bill.
While hubby was driving home, I was finishing up graduation photos that I had retouched, reviewed, retouched, reviewed, and formatted for printing. I ran my first proofs and received a shock---the printer had gone south. Oh, it can still print text, fine, but cannot deliver quality photographic prints anymore. I immediately went to buy a new printer to enable me to make my deadline but discovered that new printers are almost impossible to purchase in my area. High demand from the start of school, more people working from home, and low production numbers have emptied store shelves. The few printers I did find are not designed to print high-quality portraits. I am having to delay delivering my prints to the customer until a special ordered printer arrived. This particular order is...well, more than I expected to spend.
Stuff happens, but praise to the Lord! Hubby got home safely and the truck is ready to go another 100,000 miles...and a new truck would cost 20x! I prayed and asked the Lord about what printer to get and believe He directed my steps! AND only He knows how much I will need a reliable photo-quality printer in the days to come.
Through Jesus, we have salvation, protection, and are seating with Jesus in heavenly places. However, even Christians also walk and live in a broken world. A world in which the rain falls on the just and the unjust and "stuff happens." Nevertheless, we choose how we go through the "stuff"--either with Jesus or without Him.
I chose to walk with God and in His peace. The Father has guided us in our finances and provided us with honest work so that we can pay for these unexpected problems. I can think of two significant purchases we had considered making this year but did not because we felt a check about making those purchases. Now I know part of the "why" for that check. The money was needed to pay for these repairs and replacements. Huge problems shrunk through the grace, direction, and provision of the Lord.
I hope that no annoyances have faced you this week, and there have been no financial setbacks. I hope that you have not suffered a job loss or have been sick. But "stuff"--both big and little--happens to all of us. [Oh, yes, I forgot to say we found a suitable dryer in stock with same day free delivery and haul-away.] "Stuff" is why it is so important to pray and to listen to those quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit and to obey them. If we get too busy or don't spend time with Jesus, we might not even hear that still small voice.
God gave us a plan for overcoming our "stuff" and even added a "bit of whipped cream"! I felt prompted to call a friend, a teacher, to see if she could use the printer [it still prints, just not with fine photo quality anymore]. Turns out she can! So my "stuff" gets to turn into a bit of a blessing!
May all your "stuff" [sometimes called trials, testings, or tribulations] be transformed into blessings so that God is glorified, and you and others receive the benefit of overcoming through faith in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
