I'm not a big fan of banks these days.
For two and a half years, my wife and I have been trying to sell our home in North Carolina. When we moved back to Portland we figured it would take a few months...(not 30 and counting!!).
The finanicial crisis that hit in September 2008 is still being felt by billions of people around the globe---no exaaggeration. In my travels these past two years I've heard horrific stories of heartache and loss. The overly optimistic bubble has been popped.
Housing values can and do go down. Who believed that five years ago??!!
Well, we were one step away from selling our home on Monday. I was anticipating a call from our bank to go over final details---as it's a short sale and the house is worth at least $60,000 less than we paid for it a couple of years ago.
The conversation turned negative. The bank offered "new terms" that are ridiculous. The sale offer was rejected.
What was going to be a day of hope and relief turned to confusion and gloom.
Needlesss to say, I walked around in a fog most of Tuesday (ironically on the sunniest days in Portland in a long time).
By Tuesday evening and especially this morning, the gloom has turned to joy.
Why am I "banking" on the bank to come through? Our financial system is broken...because people are broken. Greed rules. Ethics are subjective. And the finanical "bottom line" is the last word.
While we've tried our hardest to do what's right...sometimes even our best efforts are not enough.
Tough reality.
I read Psalm 33 this morning. What a word of hope to our present situation!! The entire Psalm is amazing...but let me remind you of verses 16-19:
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Where's our hope? It SHOULD be, says the Psalmist, in God ALONE. Kings fail. Horses (smart bombs, drone planes, and nuclear weapons included) don't rescue.
But God is WATCHING everything. I can bank on that. God is FOR US. I can bank on that. God CAN AND WILL deliver us from death and keep us alive in famine.
So in a strange way this situation has been a healthy thing. It's caused me to go deeper in my dependancy on God for day to day life and the things that I can't control (no matter how hard I try!!).
Friend....hang on....
Not to stuff, human hope, or just a "positive attitude." Hang on to God...who sent His Son Jesus to prove to all of us once for all that His love and power are enough to get us through...with joy.
Smiling again,
jose
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