Thursday, October 7, 2010

It's JUST a Foreclosure

I have an announcement: Our townhouse in Colorado will be officially foreclosed and auctioned next Wednesday.
I am thankful for: It's JUST a foreclosure.
Explanation: (No, take too long, will sum up) At church Sunday, the sermon's title was "Never Waste a Problem". Acts 27 and 28 were about Paul and a bunch of Non-Christians who were on a ship that was hit by a hurricane and as he had told them God had said, all survived against all odds. Then, when they landed on the island, all accepted Jesus. Then, he was bitten by a deadly viper. He survived. He then healed a bunch of people who were deathly ill. The lesson: Problems are opportunities for miracles. We need not be afraid of our problems because while we know the possible outcomes and we know the statistical probabilities, God's actions are not predictable. But His promises are.
Romans 8:28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Matthew 6:33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
See, for any normal person, a hurricane, deadly viper, or fatal illness are serious concerns. But, for someone who is wholly the Lord's to do with what He will, He has good things in store, that we can trust. He has weird ways to get to those good things sometimes but they are promised. So, as our pastor said, those events became JUST a hurricane, JUST a viper, and JUST a fatal illness.
I KNOW that for the last two years, since Jacob and I decided to come to Louisiana, we have thought, prayed, consulted, researched, and reconsidered ALL of our decisions wanting to do not what would serve us the best, but what would be the right thing to do, God's plan for us. And there was NO way, it was impossible, for us to save this house. To us, foreclosing always has a bad connotation. I can't pinpoint where I got the impression that people who foreclose were bad people, I just had this unexplainable misunderstanding that someone who forecloses must have gotten themselves into an unwise loan, or that they spent their money irresponsibly, or didn't try hard enough and just gave up on their contract. Maybe some people are like that but not all. We really wanted to try to avoid it. We saw a bankruptcy lawyer because I don't hear as many negative associations with bankruptcy. He said it could be over and done with within the month. Our car that was broken and we couldn't afford to fix, our house that we couldn't save for anything, our credit card debt, all of it would be washed away. But we couldn't do it. We couldn't walk away from debts that we knew we'd be able to pay off. And the lawyer seemed to say it was all or nothing.
We sold the car and paid off the difference, we're paying off the credit cards. The house just has to go, there's nothing we can do for it. And I have to let go of the guilt because it's irrational guilt. Crap happens, unpredictable crap. I had been bound by guilt to anxiety and insecurity and fear and doubt. And I am thankful that now, I am free of such bondage. We could not have prevented the house problem.
I don't know what God's plan behind it all is. We may get slapped with penalties or fees or something but I am His and His plan is perfect and I don't need to be afraid or guilty. I need to rest in Him. I need to wait for answers. I need to open myself and clean out the sin that clouds the light. And He will shed that light and do marvelous wonders. I love God and am seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. And He is completing a work in me.
I am thankful that it's JUST a foreclosure, NOT the end of our lives, our purpose, our journey, our financial destiny, or our legacy. In fact, it IS a chapter ending and a new one beginning in this book God is writing, and I look forward to seeing why this chapter was included.

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