Being schooled through an auto insurance bill.

Does anyone else hate auto insurance? Seriously. Some of those (*cough* Liberty Mutual) commercials make me want to stand up and shout "Preach it, Sister!" Lines like "perfect record" and "22 pages---only lawyers read 22 pages..." make me feel like I am watching a kindred spirit vent. Every six months, our family grits our teeth and prays for an increase of revenue.

We are renewing ours now and one of my sons is costing us a ton of money.

A ton.

Go ahead, ask me. You know that you want to, and you and I both know that I want you to ask that question.

"What did he do to cost you so much money?"

• DUI? NOPE

• Speed Demon? NOPE

• Fancy car? NOPE.

What did he do? He was at a stop sign and was t-boned. Totally innocent of any fault. It is in the official police and insurance report that he was doing right. Nevertheless, our insurance is up hundreds of dollars because of someone else. Lesson learned? Sometimes we can be doing life right and still not stand in the winner's circle. Sorry Friends: Lynn Anderson and Martina McBride got it right. He "never promised us a rose garden," and life is not fair.

Do these situations sound familiar?

• The one who does the work excellently and passes the promotion exams, yet is passed over for promotion.

• The one who lives virtuously, waiting for a godly relationship, but suffers a broken heart.

• The parent who raises their children to honor and serve the LORD, only to watch them enter into a lifestyle that breaks every parent's heart.

• Families that sacrifice for years to live within their means, whose frugality is sabotaged by another's greed.

I could go on but you probably have scenarios in your mind already. Can I just say it outright? Sometimes living right does not get you a happily ever after. There I said it. You knew it too, and so do our children, so let's stop teaching that it does.

Don't be confused. I did not say it wasn't worth it; I said that it does not give us a happily ever after in this life. The author of Hebrews was explaining this to the Church---specifically the Jewish believers. Is it not assumable that, if he were teaching on this subject of "doing right sometimes gives crappy results," this is a common theme for humanity? Let's take a deeper look at this.

Hebrews 11 goes on for 38 verses, listing the story of person after person---male and female: Abraham, Noah, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Rahab, and many more. What does it say of them? They did not get what they were promised. Look at verse 13: "All of these died in faith, without receiving the promises..." Or verse 39: "...And all these...did not receive what was promised."

When do you hear THAT preached in church?

Lest you think I am suggesting a life of lawsuits and hedonism, let's go back to my auto insurance issue. Would I have preferred that he was injured, that he was DUI, or a habitual speed demon? Of course not! I thanked God for my son's safety then, and I thank God for insurance that paid the hospital bill now. It is not the behavior that needs adjusting, but the motivator for the behavior. If I am waiting for a guarantee for rewards in this life, I might get it, but I might not. What then is the answer?

While I am not always the pillar of strength, I find comfort in these steps:

1. Have faith that God makes things right and know that this faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:39a)

2. Lay aside things that entangle us... like expectations of fairness (Hebrews 12:1).

3. Fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12: 2)

4. Don't grow weary or lose heart (Hebrews 12:3). This is much easier when I am practicing 1-3. Just giving you a heads up.

While most of us are not in prison, as Paul was when he wrote 2 Timothy, many of us are suffering unjustly. Do we give up and join in with what seems to be an easier way or life? I don't think so. Let us hang on, dear friend, believing with Paul the following:

"....even though I suffer...I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day." ~2 Timothy 1:12.