God Showed Up

I was depressed yesterday and was shocked out of it by my wife asking me a question. She asked me to share with her three positive things that happened that day. I had to think for a while and then it clicked. There were more than three things that day that had happened to me that were positive.

Why was I not positive? Why did I not see God? It was my pride that was devistated by a downturn in my investments in the stock market. Yes, I am not as brilliant an investor as I thought. Of course, I can use the excuse that the market is down for everyone and that everyone has been hit. However, that is not totally the case as I invested in two few stocks and some were more risky than others. I was gambling. It did not pay off. I am caught in a market of high oil, recession and pessimism. I am actually invested in one stock that Jim Cramer called the worst possible investment. He did that yesterday. So, there it is.

Now I have three options regarding the market:

1. I can shoot myself. That won't solve anything.
2. I can shoot my wife, or have her killed for the insurance money. (That happened in our community but the husband got caught and it was for other reasons).
3. I can face reality, learn my lesson, and trust God for the lessen learned and for His will going forward. So I am to be patient.

God is at work. This has driven me to my knees. God has my attention in a good way.

The three positive things are:

1. My 15 month-old grandaughter called me. Well, she hit the send button by accident and called me. She did not say anything. She can't talk. I heard her voice though and it was good.
2. A lady affirmed me by phone out of the blue.
3. Another lady I don't hear from much approached me at church. She said some really nice things.

Today however, I had the best present. God showed up and his name was loretta. She was a middle aged black lady with a bleach stain on her blue shirt. She was at the hospital where I was visiting. I approached her but the meeting was for me. She blessed me. She prayed with me. She challenged me. She quoted more scripture than I had heard or read in weeks. She strengthened my faith. She was the face of God. Nothing else has mattered since that encounter.

The market. The church. The family issues. The hurts of humanity. The ministry. The personal hang-ups. The anger. The lust. The greed. The self-pity. The regrets. None of it mattered. I met Loretta and she was God. God showed up and I am blessed today.