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I searched my shoulder bag with a sickening realization.

My bag had been opened by a pickpocket, and all my money was gone. I didn’t even have enough to take the bus home.

I was in another country and had just stepped off a crowded minibus. As I trudged to my destination, a mixture of anger and vulnerability filled me. Now what? The loss was more than money. A sense of insecurity and uncertainty about what would happen next almost paralyzed me. Would I really be safe here in this country? And could I actually trust God to provide for me?

It took a while to recover from this experience, but it reminded me of all the other thieves in my life: time, materialism, peace. How often was I willing to settle for second best by allowing the media to steal my time? I also realized that materialism steals my sense of contentment by making me want just one more thing.

By letting myself dwell on how I had been wronged, I lost my peace. Did I really believe God had set aside His sovereignty by allowing me to be attacked? Or did He still have a better plan despite the apparent chaos? Too often, I stop believing His plan for me is abundant life, which comes through a peace only He can give.

God’s peace only comes when I am willing to surrender my feelings about what I think is right and allow Him to direct me, despite my circumstances. I need Him to be my Good Shepherd, for only He knows the path along which He leads me. Even though I did not get my money back, I needed to forgive the one who had wronged me and trust in God’s grace and provision for me as His child.

Are you struggling with a wrong committed against you? Change your focus from your circumstances to the Good Shepherd who is watching over and caring for you.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)