Who's got your back?

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 

Psalm 46:1 New Living Translation

I did something really stupid this week, so stupid that I haven’t told anyone except for my husband and I had to tell him. I didn’t know what to write about this morning and then God said, “You remember that thing you did this week?” To which I said, “I cannot tell the world about that, everyone will think I am an idiot.” God didn’t say anything to that, but I knew what He was thinking, so here it goes.

I am sure that you get your share of “junk mail” email, no matter how much computer protection you have against that kind of thing. I kept getting an email for a free Kohl’s gift card worth $500. I finally gave in and thought I would just check it out.

I answered the simple survey questions and the thing pop ups saying that I have only a few steps left and this gift card worth $500 will be on its way to my address. What pops up next is this window saying, simply pick two of these great deals from our gold package.

It is a list of “free” samples such as teeth whitening or acne medication or Disney books. For the cost of shipping and handling (anywhere from $1.04 to $5.95), they will ship my “free” sample. I don’t have to do anything after that and they will continue shipping my monthly supply of whatever this is and charge my credit card until further notice (to the tune of from $54.95 to $95.95 per month). I thought, OK, I can do this, I just have to be sure to cancel this thing as soon as I get it.

After I chose my two “free” samples, the next window pops up saying, simply pick two of these great deals from our platinum package. I thought, oh, nuts, but I am in this deep already, so I might as well keep going.

So I made my selections, having already lost my excitement over the free $500 gift card. The next window pops up saying, simply pick four of these great deals from our premium package. Well, I had to admit defeat. I had been pulled in and whipped. It was time to cut my losses, wait for my “free” stuff in the mail and hope I had the time and energy to cancel all this stuff.

Then the phone rang. Nuts, I thought, this cannot be good. I checked the caller ID. No, this is not good, I decided, but I have to answer it anyway.

“This is your credit card company. Did you just authorize four on-line transactions, ranging between $1.03 and $5.95?”

“Yes, I did.” I saw light at the end of the tunnel. “And I messed up. Can you cancel them all?”

“No, I can’t since you did authorize them. But I can cancel your credit card and issue you a new one so that these companies can’t make further charges.”

I wanted to crawl right through the phone line and give him a hug.

I know that most people would say that I have decent credit card protection, but I would argue that I have better protection than that. God looks out for me in everything I do. No matter how stupid or how seemingly trivial, He’s got my back.

Thank you Lord, for being there in my every time of need, for not judging me when I make mistakes, for picking me up when I trip and fall. Amen