It's Just Stuff

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' "

(Job 1:20-21)

On Thursday, January 10, while I was attending the opening night of the GCN conference here in Phoenix, my home was burglarized. As I pulled into the driveway shortly after midnight, I immediately felt there was something wrong. As soon as I put my key in the door, I knew someone had been in my house. My dogs were not there to greet me as they usually do, and the deadbolt had been unlocked. Lights throughout the house were on, doors that are usually closed when I am gone were open, and a sense of foreboding overcame me. I opened the back door and called for my dogs, who came running from the far end of the yard. I could tell that they were very upset and agitated.

Once I determined that they were safe and unharmed, I began to survey the house to determine what had occurred. The front part of the house seemed to be intact, but as I moved toward the back of the house, I suspected the worse, and justifiably so. The thief (thieves?) had pretty much cleaned out the back end of the house, taking anything of apparent value that they could carry. My office and bedroom were ransacked. A large empty space on my desk indicated that my laptop, large screen monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse, and web cam were gone. All that remained were abandoned power cords and cables. My digital camera was also gone (I knew I should have downloaded those photos - darn procrastination).

In my bedroom, one of my jewelry boxes was gone, and my jewelry cabinet was completely emptied of its contents. Gone were all of my watches, including the heirloom timepiece that my father gave me on my last visit to see him. My wedding ring was gone, along with all of my cuff links, tie tacks and tie bars, and various other items that I had accumulated or was given over the years. Most of my coin collections had been taken as well. Every closet and dresser drawer had been searched. Even the bedding had been pulled out in an attempt to see if I was hiding anything under the mattress.

Once I called the police, I had about an hour to process the situation before the officers finally arrived to conduct their investigation. By the time they were done, it was nearly 2:30 in the morning, and I was exhausted. All I kept thinking was, it could have been worse, and I was extremely grateful that my dogs weren't harmed. Oddly enough, I slept very well for the remainder of the night with my babies snuggled up close beside me.

The next morning, I felt that I was not in a good frame of mind to return to the conference, and I wanted to do a more thorough assessment of the situation in the daylight and after being a bit more rested. I texted a few close friends to let them know what had happened and why I wouldn't be at the conference, and they all responded with such incredible concern and compassion. As I was praying, I just burst into tears. Not because of the loss I had incurred, but because God has blessed me with such amazing friends. Their outpouring of love throughout the day overwhelmed me.

As I decompressed that morning, I kept hearing this thought in my head - "It's just stuff." I wish I could say that this is the first time I have been relieved of my possessions, but it wasn't. Over the years I have had numerous instances where people have seen fit to help themselves to my "stuff". And each time, I have been reminded that "it's just stuff." The passage from Job quoted above came to mind the other day. Even when faced with total ruin and the loss of everything that meant anything to Job, he still had the attitude that he came into the world with nothing and would leave with nothing, and that God gives and takes away as He pleases. In the end, the only acceptable response is to worship God.

For many years I have tried to maintain the attitude that everything I have belongs to God, and that He just lets me enjoy it for a season. Some seasons are longer than others, and they usually end without any advance notice. I have also observed that God usually replaces the things that go away with better things. But then, sometimes He doesn't replace them at all, a sign that I no longer needed them in my life (this applies to people as much as possessions). So in this current situation, I felt in my heart that maybe this was a way of cleaning the slate. Some of the "stuff" that had been stolen were things that I had been holding on to for too long, and needed to let go. At the end of the day, I still had what mattered most - my peace and my joy.

I resolved that this turn of events would not rob me of my peace or my joy. I quickly determined (and it was confirmed by a trusted friend that very day), that this was simply an attack of the enemy to try to ruin my experience at this conference. So I went back to the conference Friday evening to receive the blessings that I felt God had prepared for me. And I was blessed. Over and over for the next three days I was blessed, and I gladly received it. Those blessings came in the form of some dynamic worship services, but also in the continued outpouring of love and concern from those who knew what had happened. Usually I am the one who is the encourager and nurturer in my friendships; but this was my time to be encouraged and nurtured. God's love for me expressed through my friends was most evident, and extremely humbling.

I try to always see the silver lining in situations, and it's almost funny how the thieves managed to overlook certain items which have allowed me to quickly recover from this incident. I believe that God blinded them to the "stuff" that is important to me. Besides, I still have my home and my babies, and that is enough. God is good all the time.

Have a blessed week!

Pastor David