In a Instance, It Was Gone

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

I remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up that morning like any other, walked out to my car only to see my seats flipped forward, and my back window busted out. My sound system was gone; stolen; not to be had any more and I was upset to say the least.  Did I mention that I was upset? That is probably putting it mildly.

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Let's rewind back to when I was in high school.  This was my 1987 Ford Escort with 5-Star rims on it and it was rightly named, "Da 'Scort". I worked as a teenager and so I paid for the car, but I was also interested in car sound systems. My interests were triggered by my cousins who had systems as well.

Over time, I managed to build quite the system.  I had two 12" Sub woofers taking up the entire trunk, nice mid-range speakers in the doors, a 12-Disc CD changer, two amplifiers (one under each seat), and a Pioneer radio with a removable face and alarm. Yes, all of that was inside an Escort and on the surface you couldn't even tell. However, when it turned on my parents would say they could hear me coming into the neighborhood.  It would rattle windows if I was close by. It was loud and it was my baby. To top it all off, I did all the installation work myself, so there was much pride in what I had.

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Da 'Scort

That summer I was in summer school at NC State and that night I came home blasting my music like normal and went in the house. Out of all nights, I forgot to take the face off my radio, which if the face wasn't put on the radio in 10 seconds the alarm (horn) would go off.

So, when I walked to the car and saw what happened, my heart dropped. The only thing that they left for me were the speakers in the doors, but that was only because they were behind the factory covers. There was anger, sadness, disbelief, and so many emotions running through my head. I had felt so violated. Something that I had worked so hard to create over years was gone in just an overnight nap. So, for a long time, I drove around in silence with wires hanging out of my dashboard where a radio used to be, which was a constant reminder of what had happened that summer.

So, why the pain? Why the heartache? Why did I feel like I had lost everything? The reasoning was because of how I treated my car and my sound system.  It was my treasure on earth and like a king with riches, it was my vault that held all my valuables.  In Matthew 6:19-21, the Bible says:

(19) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I did exactly what the scripture said not to do. I wasn't saved back then, so these verses didn't register to me, however, even as a non-believer I learned something.  The things you have on this earth can be gone in an instant. The things that you build up that are material can be lost in a matter of minutes. If your heart, soul, and everything are in those things, you will feel defeated and demoralized when they are gone.

Yes, this life changing event is still vivid to me, but what has changed is where I put my value. Yes, I do own things, but my worth isn't wrapped up in them. My walk with Christ and the love of my family tops my list now-a-days and that's what matters most.  Yep, I still have treasures - it's just that now I store them in a different place.

Be Blessed folks.

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Lessons from Manoah, Samson's Father

Manoah had a wife who had been barren and out of the blue an Angel of the Lord appeared to her. The message? She would have a son who would deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. Now think for a moment.  Here is a women who have not been able to conceive a child and three miraculous things happened to her all at once.

1. She was visited by an Angel of the Lord,
2. She was told that she would have a son,
3. The son that she would have would deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.

After hearing this, the first thing she did was run to her husband, Manoah, to tell him of the incident. He did not doubt her or think she was crazy, but rather his thoughts were, Lord please send this man to teach us what to do with the child. 

First of all most men would wonder who is this strange man talking to my wife! Second, most men's first thought would not be to pray to have the man come back for instruction (probably more so for confrontation). It really tells us a lot about a man who would be the father of one to save a nation.

What lessons can we glean from Manoah?

1. Men, have your wife's back. You married her for a reason and sometimes she just needs you to hear her and believe/support her, no matter how crazy things may sound, and
2. Men, seek the Lord first. Manoah wanted this man to come back to know exactly how to raise his future son. Yahweh was blessing them and he wanted His instructions on how to care for that blessing.  Brothers are we like Manoah in how we treat the things God blesses us with?

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