Turning Blessings into Burdens

     With a little effort any blessing can be turned into a burden.  We all do this to some extent when the things we so much wanted to own  become possessions that have to be maintained, but some people are better at it than others and it's much more fun to discuss other people.  My first example of this principle is "Ethel".  Ethel was for the most part home bound but drew a lot of satisfaction from listening to Christian radio programming.  That was a blessing.  Ethel turned her blessing into a burden by deciding to take notes of the messages.  Because she had a stroke affected left hand, note taking was difficult since her paper kept moving around as she wrote.  Constantly repositioning the her paper caused her to fall behind.  The very messages that were meant to uplift her had become a source of frustration--of her own choosing. It would have been far better to stop writing and just listen.  Forgetting some points of the message would be better than missing the point of it altogether through frustration.
     For a time Ethel and I attended the same Bible study.  There were donation baskets on the way out where members could give an offering, if they chose, towards the expenses of that, and other, classes.  It was mentioned only a few times a year and strictly voluntary.  Ethel put in a dollar every week. Living on social security alone, sometimes she would be stressed for days about where she could come up with the dollar.  She had become so inflexible about the dollar that she felt the need to skip Bible study if she didn't have it.  Turning blessings into burdens; Ethel was an expert.
     My other example is "Doris".  Doris had never married and lived, after her mother's death, with her bachelor brother.  The family savings had gone to her older siblings' rest home expenses, but her brother generously left her their shared home when he died.  Out of her meager $400 monthly social security, Doris had to pay house taxes, insurance and upkeep as well as her regular living expenses.  Though she feared being alone in case of crime, accident or illness, Doris refused to consider moving to an apartment. There was no family around to do repairs or maintenance. Doris was no longer physically able even to water the lawn and couldn't afford to have it cut when the rain made it grow. The very thing her brother had left her to bring her security was causing her to live in stress and poverty.
     Both of these women were Olympic level worriers and I think that is an essential ingredient for turning blessings into burdens.  I believe this for two reasons: 1)worry is a sin I'm not very good at, so I don't have to feel guilty 2)worry has great corrupting power.  Worry, at its core, is a statement about God.  It is saying God is either not good enough or not powerful enough to take care of me. Worry is easy to start, hard to stop, and spreads like wildfire.  It can ruin the most joyous moment you are having now by convincing you it won't last or will never happen again.  The antidote for the poison of worry is recognizing the sovereignty of God.  I learned that through Bible study, I learned that because I wasn't thinking about the dollar for the offering plate.  I will leave worrying to the professionals like Ethel and Doris, I'm just not good at it anymore.
     I prefer to use my blessings for their intended purpose, to bring praise to God and pleasure to man.  Surprisingly, when we stop creating our own burdens, we discover God doesn't give us all that many and, even those few, are for giving right back to him. If I want to turn something good into something bad, I'll give it to the dog.