May 16, 2022 – Click here to listen
Today I should be in Costa Rica. I moved the possessions I am keeping out of my home in the Florida Keys and was supposed to close last Friday and be on a plane the next day. After I had moved out all my possessions and put them in storage the buyer backed out at the last possible moment. So, I spent the weekend moving back in and trying to get the house presentable to market again. My wife and I are nearing exhaustion.
I have no idea why they backed out, but it was well after the due diligence period and now they are demanding to get their deposit out of escrow. When I was asked if I was going to fight their demand in court, I told them I would fight until “the last dog dies”.
I don’t understand what is wrong with people these days. If they had changed their mind about the house, they could have told us long before the day before the closing. Instead, they asked that the closing date be moved up. We didn’t have time to line up professional movers in such a short period and ended up hiring a couple of guys and moving ourselves. And now they have the unmitigated gall to ask for their deposit back “or else”.
So, I ask myself, what lesson is God trying to teach me here? After being in business for most of my life I already knew there are unscrupulous people in this world so he wouldn’t waste His time rehashing that. I can only guess as to what His motivation is for allowing this to happen.
I know that no one can know the mind of God and He hasn’t chosen to share it with me, so I have just accepted it and moved on. The real estate broker has already shown the house two times to new prospective buyers and is scheduled to show it again tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.
My wife was initially fairly stressed over it, and I told her when you think about it the worst that can come of this as far as I can see is that we have to continue living in the paradise and beautiful home in which we live. We have many friends down here who do not want us to move and that we love, and we can spend more time with them. She agreed and felt better almost instantly.
I have faced many serious obstacles in life, and this is just a blip on the screen compared to most of them. I find it is stress-free to look ahead and leave the past . . . well . . . in the past. So, I’m determined to look ahead and deal with life on the terms that I have been given by our Lord and accept both the good and the bad served up to me. It’s silly to think otherwise. I can pull my hair and wail and cry “poor little ol’ me” until the sun goes down and it will change nothing.
This is not to say I’m happy over having to move out and then back in. It was expensive and very tiring at our age to do this, but hopefully we will prevail and secure the deposit to compensate us for our trouble. If not, I will deal with that in the same manner. I will just forge ahead with God at my side and accept the bad and the good that comes my way in this evil world.
I was thinking of all the poor people that don’t even have a home and comparing it to the blessings with which the Lord has flooded me and I want to shout out to His glory and praise His name and pray for those who really have problems.
So, Satan has tried to send some of his minions my way to discourage me, but he can slink back to wherever he came from knowing that I am not the guy who is going to abandon my God just because I experience a few fiery trials. Though I cannot see the future or understand the “whys” in life I have my faith and it is stronger than ever.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we live by faith, not by sight.