Hacked on the First Day of the New Year

Hacked on the First Day of the New Year

Finding Joy

Yup – got the text from my bank and then the fraud unit call that they had detected unusual activity on my debit card.

New York, Arkansas, Maine, and Arizona saw activity today on the first day of the new year from my card – all while I was sitting at church this morning learning how to find joy, the key to a satisfied soul.

I admit that when I went through the details with the fraud unit, I was mad. I was mad because now I have a claim number as they investigate the thousands of dollars that were charged to my card. And, I was annoyed to have to now deal with having to end the old card number and start all over again with a new one.

I admit finding joy in hacking on the first day of the new year is going to require something of me because my reaction settled on the antonym side of joy. I disliked the hacking and all that goes with it and I am unhappy about it and I am discouraged by it.

But to find the joy that satisfies my soul requires me to learn what to avoid and what to pursue. (Thanks for your message this morning Kyle Waggoner! www.vintagegrace.org)

What I need to avoid on this first day of 2017 is letting my anger, my frustrations and my annoyance at being hacked rob me of finding joy today and the rest of 2017. Today I learned that a satisfied soul must forsake futility (Waggoner, 2017) and it is futile for me to remain angry, frustrated and annoyed at being hacked!

What I am to pursue is gratitude. Wait…WHAT??? Yup…I am to pursue gratitude by thanking God.

I am thankful for the technology that caught the fraud and for the claim number that will return the money to our account and that we won’t be charged for the $585 Evine and $540 Walmart purchases made today while I was finding joy in having a satisfied soul, which is a gift from God.

I am thankful for learning today about the good and the foolish things in my life that rob me of my time and focus and the “reasonable justifications” I make and tell myself that allow them.

I am thankful that my circumstances good and bad offer me the opportunity to learn how to let God’s daily provisions be my source of contentment in all things.

I am thankful that more than anything what is required of me from this point on beginning with this hacked New Years day is that I need to cultivate a heart that loves Jesus more than anything.

Here is my prayer I wrote this morning at church while I was being hacked:

My portion God is what you provide for me and that is what will satisfy my soul. Lord, help me to grow and learn to be satisfied in you, overflowing with joy in any circumstance. Check my heart for the demands of self that trump my heart for you God.

Here we go into 2017 cultivating a heart that loves Jesus more than anything – that is the key to joy and a satisfied soul!