Isn't That Just Like Satan?

I have tried recently to look for the good in all situations. I have spent time praising God for trying times as well as the good times. I have seen my spiritual mood change and experience growth in recent months. My family and I have seen solutions to our problems appear (even if they were not the solutions we had planned). We have become more "of one mind" about important issues in our life. My wife and I are looking forward to our 14th wedding anniversary this week (Wednesday).

Then Tuesday happened! I left the house early to leave for work. But, as I was getting into my truck, I noticed that something was not right...the glove box was open and some of the contents were messed up. I then noticed that my satellite radio receiver was missing from the dash and the front of my stereo was gone! To top that off, my CD case was missing from the seat as well!! A few years of my favorite music was just gone!!! I had been robbed...

I purposefully did not touch anything so as to not disturb the "crime scene", went back in and told my wife about it and then called the police. The local LEO showed up and asked several questions, took my information, then left to deal with the other vandalism and burglaries reported the same morning. Turns out someone went on a crime spree in our little village. One other vehicle was broken into and a local auto parts store was robbed as well. As it turns out, no finger prints were taken and no further investigation is to be conducted. The model and serial numbers of my equipment were loaded into the county Sheriff's database, but that's as far as things went. I expect I will never see my stuff again.

On Wednesday morning, I felt a bit sick, but as the morning progressed, I got horribly worse. Initially, I thought it was food poisoning, but now I don't know. It took two days to recover from that.

As you might imagine, I have not been in the praising mood for the past few days. I guess that's just like Satan. Just when someone starts to get it, starts to praise God for every bit of life, the devil tries to do what he does best (steal, kill, and destroy).

But then, my loving wife brought me back to a place of Divine perspective. She offered prayer for our thief! She prayed that the 45 or so Contemporary Christian CDs would serve to share the Gospel of Jesus with him (or her). She asked God to use the items stolen from us to change the lives of others for His Glory.

So now I sit here completely humbled by her sincere desire to help others and her Godly love for others (even those who take advantage of us). And, I'll start again by saying again, Thank You Lord for sending her to me. Thank you Father for creating the two of us for each other. Thank you for using this difficult week for Your Glory and Honor.

Let our lives honor You...