Gratefully Scammed

GRATEFULLY SCAMMED!

It always makes me nervous when I walk in a room and my husband tells me to sit down because he has something to tell me. It was no different that Monday morning when I returned from the gym. His big brown eyes were filled with fear, anxiety and wet with the tears he withheld. He told me that we had been scammed! Most of our accounts wiped clean with only a few hundred dollars remaining. Then my eyes matched his. I gaped in silence. It was no one’s fault. Scammers have become like the devil himself, deceitful, smooth sweet talkers, liars with reassuring words that all will be well. They link you to fake secure lines and fake phone numbers saying it is your bank’s fraud department that you are speaking to!

We spent the rest of the week with our bank, the police, State Attorney General and the FBI repeating our story over and over again. It is unlikely that we will see any of our money again. It has taken days of prayer to relinquish the sense of violation, anger and helplessness we felt. But first we prayed for the souls of the perpetrators and forgave them this evil. Through it all we kept asking ourselves what does God want us to learn through this attack on our security? What is the purpose in leaving us without enough resources to pay our basic bills, buy groceries or gas? In my heart I kept repeating MT. 6:25 “Do not worry about what you are to eat or wear etc. Your Father knows you need these things.” But Father, I said, our social security checks won’t be in for two weeks!

In those first days we had to learn to say no to all those little things we take for granted. No impulse buying, no quick lunch out, no iced coffee or candy bar on the run. No, no, and no! Discipline is hard. Yes!  We have told God many times, that we surrender it all. You take care of it. We know He will but still feel anxious and cry a bit. I long for the day when my WORDS of surrender and trust will result in a true inner peace. I read today that the essence of prayer is recognizing God’s omnipotence and our nothingness. I am totally dependent on Him for everything:

I am empty…………………………..He fills me

I own nothing……………………….All is His

 I control nothing…………………..He controls all

 I have no food……………………….He feeds me

I have no home………………………He shelters me

I am weak……………………………..He is my rock

I am alone……………………………..He walks with me

I now believe that the invasion of our financial security will teach us to depend more on God than on ourselves and to be more grateful for even the smallest things.

When disaster befalls us whether flood, fire. Tornado, hurricane or even war. It is not God’s fault nor his plan, but it is an opportunity to learn what is for our good. I am a controlling take-charge kind of person, and this event is teaching me to be more dependent on God’s providence and to be more grateful.

Yes, this was a humiliating experience, but I share it because I know it has happened to some of my readers. I hope our journey will help you to recover and turn Satan’s evil against him.

              What return shall I make to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? PS 116:12-13