Walking Down A Different Street

"The line you are calling is currently being checked for trouble" Sheila slammed the telephone receiver down in disgust. "I knew I should have called the telephone company yesterday!" She irritably blew out a breath and slumped dejectedly in her office chair. Almost immediately she straightened up and nonchalantly glanced around. Good, her cube mate across the aisle had gone for coffee and no one else seemed to be around. She didn’t want any of her co-workers to see her in this frustrated state and start asking questions. What would she say? "I’ll be alright, I’m just late paying my phone bill…again!" Sheila grabbed a stack of folders and headed for the file room. There, it would be quiet and she could pray.

Thankfully, Sheila didn’t pass anyone in the hall. Aggravation was boiling so close to the surface she didn’t think she could put on the "office smile" and be cordial. The aggravation was primarily directed at herself. "Why?! Why do I find myself falling back into the same old hole over and over again?!" Sheila closed the filing room door behind her and leaned against it. She furiously blinked her eyes to keep the tears that were threatening to brim over from falling. Gazing at the ceiling, she imploringly searched it as though looking for something. "Lord, I go to work everyday. I pay my tithes and my offerings and yet I am still struggling with my finances. I just don’t understand. It seems like I’m barely able to make ends meet. I am literally robbing Peter to pay Paul and all my bills still don’t get paid on time. Some don’t get paid at all. There’s got to be a better way!"

With her jaw set, Sheila pushed herself off the door and walked resolutely to one of the file cabinets, angrily jerking it open. She stared at the files, which were starting to blur, as tears once again stung her eyes, this time spilling over and sliding down her cheeks. Sheila hated feeling this way: helpless, powerless, out of control. Condemnation had taken his favorite seat on her head and seemed to be pounding out his rebuke. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Heaviness plopped himself on her chest like a 10-pound weight and begin whining, "What are you going to do?" Sheila grabbed the sides of the filing cabinet as though to brace herself and shook her head. "NO!" Her invisible tormentors vanished.

"I will not be in debt!" She flicked the tears off her face and took a deep empowering breath. "*Lord, your word says that I am the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. You said I’m blessed coming in and going out. You said I would lend and not borrow. Well, Lord I am going to stand on that. You said you would rebuke the devourer for my sake. I’m standing on that too. And you said if I would acknowledge you in all my ways you would direct me. I’m coming to you Lord…help me find a way! I’m tired of walking down the same street and falling into the same hole! Beginning today, I’m walking down a different street!"

Can you relate to Sheila? Whether it’s your finances or some other issue that has become a stumbling block for you the answer lies in changing what you choose to do. Choose to walk down a different street. The choice is absolutely yours to make no matter how limited your options seem to be. Are you familiar with the saying, "If you always do what you always did, you’re always going to get what you’ve always got!" To get different results, you have to do different things. If Sheila had chosen to feel sorry for herself and give herself excuses for her dilemma, she would never have made the decision that ultimately led to her financial success. Often, it’s not even a big change that’s required. Making small changes over time can make a huge difference. For example, Sheila stopped eating out and began bringing her lunch from home. That saved her a whopping $140.00 a month. More than enough to help pay off her overdue telephone bill.

Dave, a confirmed pessimist, started greeting each day with the statement, "*This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it," He said it as soon as he opened his eyes in the morning. He said it as he showered and shaved. He said it while maneuvering his car through rush hour traffic on his way to work and he said it just before walking through the doors of his job. Little by little, Dave begin to notice a change in his attitude and so did his co-workers. Dave found a poster with his new affirmation printed on it and hung it over his desk at work where it served as a reminder to him throughout the day. Dave was amazed to see that not only did his personal and professional relationships improve but his blood pressure no longer fluctuated up and down. At Dave’s last check up, his doctor was able to reduce the number of blood pressure medications he had been taking.