To shred or not to shred

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5

I don't have the best home filing system in the world, but it works for me. Part of my system includes a 'to be shredded' bag. You know- just doing my part to prevent identity theft, and all. So last spring at income tax time, I thought it might be a good idea to go through the 'to be shredded' bag, just in case something important had inadvertently found its way there. I dug into the distasteful chore of sorting through old trash.

"Are you sure you feel like going through that garbage?" my husband asked.

"I'm pretty sure I don't," I told him, "but maybe I should."

Sure enough, something that looked like it might fall under the category of health expenses "Explanation of Benefits" seemed suspect. I may need those, I thought. To be honest, I hadn't opened most of them. With the large, bold type reading,"not a bill" across the top, why bother? I opened the first EOB statement, only to discover something a tad out of the ordinary. A reimbursement check for something like $12 was attached. I opened another -- $6 this time. And another for $20. When all was said and done, I had rescued $122.61 from the shredder. Thankfully, none of them had expired.

This journey called life can lead us down some difficult paths. Let's be real; we all go through "garbage" every once in awhile. Garbage that, if given the choice, we would really rather not go through. But maybe we should. Some days we cry out to God, asking Him why He would ever allow us to go through it. Maybe you're even going through some today. But look again. Perhaps that garbage you're going through is really $122.61.

Is God trying to bless you in the midst of 'garbage' today?

Lord, please help me to be able to know if what I think is garbage in my life is actually something of value that You've put there. Give me wisdom to see things clearly for what they truly are. Amen

Suzie Thomas