Debtors like to make excuses.
When I used to work collections, I’d try to work out a payment plan to get people out of debt, and I often heard “The Lord will provide” as their only excuse for not paying the money they owed.
That’s crap. It’s not a financial plan. It’s not a life plan.
It’s a crappy excuse to make you feel better about why your life sucks, has always sucked, and will–most likely–continue to suck.
Over the weekend, I got to spend quite a bit of time with family, including some that we don’t get to see often. One couple in particular really stands out. Neither of them are employed. She’s got some medical problems and has several major surgeries recently. I’d give her a pass for that, but she was unemployed for many years prior to that. He used to have a job, but lost it a couple of years ago, and is now milking welfare with his wife and daughter. They recently lost their house and had to move in with his mother.
Neither one is looking for work. Between the two of them, they smoke 4-5 packs of cigarettes a day. They want to buy a house soon, or rent an apartment, or something. They aren’t very clear in their planning because, “It’s in God’s hands.”
No plan, no ambition, no goals. I don’t understand how anybody can go through life with no intention of improving it. How can you try to hide behind platitudes instead of making things better?
Here’s the bumper sticker that can actually improve your life: “Good things come to those who bust their asses and make good decisions.”
It’s not the easy path, but in the long run, it’s a better path and one of the few paths that doesn’t lead to royal life-suckitude.
I like your bumper sticker idea! 🙂 I also have no idea how people can be okay with that sort of life, but I see it pretty frequently. Here’s a story I like a lot about it being in God’s hands…
So there’s this huge flood one day, and an entire town looks like it’s going to be swallowed up by the waters. The Police and Rescue Agencies are running all over the place trying to get people to safety.
So they send the rescue boat over to this house where a guy’s sitting on the roof with the water lapping around his ankles and they say “Come on, quickly, there isn’t much time!”
To which he says “Nah, it’s ok, God will Provide”
So about an hour later they’re zooming past in the boat again and they notice the guy’s still there, only the water’s up to his waist, almost at the top of the roof.. “Quick” they say, “Get in the boat, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Nah, don’t worry – God will Provide”
An hour after that a rescue helicopter flies over the area and notices the guy, who must be standing on the peak of the roof now, with only his head and shoulders out of the water. “GRAB THE ROPE!” they cry “IT’S YOUR ONLY HOPE!”
“Don’t worry” he replies calmly “God will provide.”
So he drowns as expected. He goes to heaven, and is a little ticked off with God, and expresses his concern saying “I had FAITH, I BELIEVED in you – and still you didn’t help me. Why?!”
“HELP YOU?!” God replies “What MORE did you want?! I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”
Jason –
I detest people like this. God isnt going to provide anything for anyone. You need to get off your ass and work.
I wonder about this as well. I don’t get how people can sit back and not try to improve their lives. I have a pretty sweet life and I still work every day to try to make it better. If I was unemployed and living with my parents you bet your ass I’d be doing everything I could to improve my situation.
I agree with what everyone has said. Nothing is handed to, regardless if you believe in God or not. You go out and make things happen. You start the ball rolling and that will slowly start to lead to more positive things in your life. If you just sit around and wait, you’re going to be waiting forever.