Have you ever done something, and while you were doing it, you knew it wasn’t right, but you did it any way. That little voice within was talking, but you didn’t want to listen. The inner alarms were ringing, but you just kept on.
I have a funny little story for you …
If you know me, you know I’m a lover of bright happy colors. My wardrobe is mostly from a company called Natural Life. It’s a little bit hippy and a whole lotta happy. BIG Life and Natural Life truly need to do a collaboration of the happiest Jesus girl clothing on the planet. They haven’t reached out yet.
Well, recently, a friend who owns a boutique that carries the Natural Life brand sent me a link advertising a massive warehouse sale. Now, I’m currently out of the country with one little suitcase. I don’t have space for anything new and I don’t even have a shipping address to receive it. So, when she first shared the website link of massive clearance, I ignored it. A few weeks went by and I decided maybe I should order me a few new pieces for when I return to the states and have them waiting for me. So, I clicked on the link and began scrolling.
Y’all, the romper I had paid $65 for was $12. My favorite hat was on sale for $2! Entire bedding sets were $7. I don’t even own a bed, y’all I am full on homeless, but for some reason I decided I would really need a bedding set because it was so cheap. And so would 8 of my best friends. I had hundreds of dollars of items in my cart, and the total was only $65.
So, what do I do? I keep adding more things to my cart. Oh, there’s my favorite happy travel bag, I’m going to need a dozen of those and I will give them away at the next retreat. Gosh, everyone will want one of my favorite coffee mugs, so yes, let’s get 30! The cart grew and grew, yet the discounts kept piling up and my total remained at $65.
I literally spent hours tingling with excitement thinking of who would want that sweater, who would love that floral dog bed, who would be thrilled over that fuzzy blanket. Still, the total never moved from $65.
All while there was a little voice within that said, “Pamela, something isn’t right here.”
Susshhhhhhh little voice, I’m basically doing free shopping for all the happy things for me and my people. The inner alarm is ringing as I put in our credit card information. But I ignore the alarm and proceed because it’s all just sooooo pretty. At this point I have a semi-truck load of things scheduled to be delivered to my friend Nicole’s house in Illinois so I text her and tell her to make space. Gifts are on their way!!!!! Girl, I just redecorated your whole house for you! Oh the excitement.
Then comes the confirmation email … in a foreign language. Then the credit card charge … totally NOT my beloved Natural Life.
I had been scammed. And sadly, I knew it the entire time, I just wouldn’t listen. I wanted it so bad I just couldn’t be told no. And guess what … that semi-truck never showed up with my massive order, and now they have my credit card.
You know what … I did that. I have no one else to blame.
Sometimes we do the same exact thing when there’s far more than $65 on the line. We proceed with relationships we know darn good and well aren’t right. We step right into jobs and careers that were never meant for us, but the offer of money was so good. And we go from one bad decision to another because we’re chasing fickle feelings and fleeting desires.
Was that little voice within God? Was God trying to get our attention, trying to direct our steps, trying to safeguard us from disaster? Was God showing us a better way, giving us an out, and offering divine wisdom, but we didn’t accept it?
Scripture tells us of David who became a mighty warrior and King.