monthly musing

​                                                                           LOSS!
  
 
                   By James Baker. (Minister of the Mt. Airy Church of Christ)  
 
Have you owned something and suddenly it's gone? Disappears; no longer with you.
If so, that is a loss.  Loss is everywhere; you see it on tv, radio, newspapers, out in the community. etc.   Don't take it personal, everybody loses something and everybody hurts as a result. There is nowhere where this painful experience isn’t felt.
 
It is a fact of life and that’s why, the word “insurance” exists, to give some kind of protection from loss.  Now insurance cannot replace what is originally gone, but it does serve as comfort so that one can have some kind of cushion to lie down on
 
Loss occurs in various ways. For example, it can exist because it is intentional.  Someone wants you to lose out, they want you to be left empty handed. 
 
Other times, loss occurs by mistake.  You lose something because someone makes a. error in Judgement and it affects you.  If a person is texting while driving, you don’t want to be near them because they could crash into you causing severe damage.
On other occasions loss has occurred because of the forces of nature or the forces of something else.  it could just be the force of animals, storms, fires, etc.   The destruction from such can wipe out and does not build up; therefore you have loss.
Either way, it’s never a good thing.  It's always painful because all you do is sit around thinking about it.    One will say, “if I had done this or if I hadn’t stopped there, if I would have been a little bit more later, if I would have been earlier.”  etc
Yes, one could take all day talking about what should have been done or not done; but the pain and the loss will still be a reality.  So, what must we do to make our lives better as we deal with this demon called “loss.”
 
Expect Loss   
The man Job understood this; “the Lord gives and Lord takes away”.   Job 1.21.  
As much as man wants to keep everything that he has; there is no guarantee that is going to happen.  The wife of Job, a perfect example as the devil continued to make Job lose all his possessions. His wife saw that her life of luxury was coming to an end and she made the foolish decision to tell Job to curse God and die. She couldn't understand why they had to lose all the material possessions. Job 2.9-10.  Jesus said that possessions can be stolen or can disappear by other means or just become worthless. Matt 6.19-21. So, man needs to be ready to accept the fact that potential losses could occur.   Imagine going outside in the summer and expecting a fly to land on you and one does.  Because being outside in summertime, pretty much guarantees your encounter with insects.
 
Get your soul right.
It’s easier to face the problems of life if one knows that he is favorable in the eyes of God.  The support and love from the heavenly Father will comfort and guide the believer though the trying times. Rom 8.35-39.  Throughout the book of Psalms, David cried out to God to save him from his enemies, from those who were persecuting him and stalking him, in the end because of David's relationship with the Lord he was saved.    
If God is not with a man who is suffering loss; that man is alone and the Devil is with him.  But understand this, Satan isn’t there to help the suffering man, the devil is there to get him into as much trouble as possible; and the devil is laughing at the poor soul. 
1 Peter 5.8
 
Have a plan B
Nothing works better than having another way to proceed after one-way closes. If you lose your car, have a bicycle. Have a bus schedule, have a friend or a neighbor who can take you places that you need to get to. If you lose your job have some money saved up. Try to find out who might have your back should you lose some vital situation that you need. Luke 16.1-14.
 
Be ready to rebuild.
We might not want to, but if we plan to continue living, we better be ready to do whatever it takes to restore what is gone.    If that isn’t done, everything will vanish.
If the Lord wills, there will be tomorrow and one can try again.  Pull yourself up, put on your boots and go for it once more.  Nehemiah chapter 3
 
 
Be willing to talk to strong believers
Christians are here for each other.  They are here when we're happy, they are here to celebrate with us, they're also here to talk to us and give us strong words of encouragement, which is what we need after a loss. Make sure that you hang out with strong Christians, because their words will be uplifting and informative.    Eph 4.29. Gal 6.2
 
 
 
Don’t view earthly things as permanent.
Jesus told us not to do it. He warned about the possibility of things going wrong and losing stuff.  We shouldn’t put stock in material things because they are temporary.
When we see others suffering loss, remember that could be us. 
Paul wrote there is no way that we will take our material things with us when this life is over. 1 Tim 6.7     The Bible is very clear about earthly things; they are earthly, they are not eternal. 1 Cor 15.47-48. 2 Cor 4.18.   If we keep these truths in mind, it will be easier to accept the disappearance of temporary things from our lives.