Control

The other day I got my car fixed. It cost about $1300 and I gave the mechanic my debit card to pay for it. After he ran it, I realized that I gave him the wrong card. He immediately voided the transaction, and ran the correct card. Small problem. The initial charge created a hold on my account for $1300 causing more than $300 in overdraft charges in two days!

I was not happy. I called the 800 number for my bank, told them the situation and they said that it wasn't their fault. (Which, according to their operating procedures, it wasn't.) The offered to reverse $60 of the fees - at which point I lost my head. I became extremely frustrated because it seemed to me that the bank was just trying to gouge me in an already hard economic time! I talked with a supervisor to no avail. I felt as if I had no control and that the bank was misusing the power that it had.

I got off the phone seething with rage, then I called my lawyer. Without starting a major class-action suit against the bank, there wasn't a whole lot I could do. Back came the feelings of helplessness, anger and the desire for revenge. I was, however, ready to take some legal action.

Then, God spoke to my heart in the midst of my torment and said: "How much are you going to let this control you?" He went on to show me that in the grand scheme of things, $300 was just a drop in the bucket. I mean really, does $300 matter when God has blessed us so richly and provided for our every need? Since He gives us everything, it is really His money anyway.

I knew God was right, and I had a choice. I could choose to let this situation make me miserable and maybe regain my $300, or I could choose to let it go and trust God to work it out. Reluctantly, I chose to let it go.

There are many things that happen to us on a daily basis, some good, some bad. Sometimes we end up focusing on the bad things though, and letting them control our emotions, our actions, our speech, our thoughts. Christ came to set us free from this type of control. Next time you find yourself in a similar situation, as yourself: "How much am I going to let this control me?"