“Buyer” Beware
I love music, especially flowing from a beautiful piano. I was reminded just how much the sound of it captures my heart when I read an email from a woman offering a baby grand piano as a gift to a passionate instrument lover! The message came into the church email and there was a confirming picture on the gmail account. It looked legit, the piano was beautiful and her story for why she felt the need to part from it was understandable. After some back and forth emails, she asked me to email her mover to make arrangements. We only had to cover the costs of moving it. That’s when things started looking hinky. The mover’s email was awkwardly written, but it did list a website. I checked out the website and it looked legitimate as well, until I looked more closely. The endorsements were from the same company and were misspelled. The clincher was their final email containing an estimate requesting payment via Venmo or Zelle. At that point I searched online and found multiple scam listings for “free baby grand pianos”. I’d been had. Fortunately, that was as far as it went.
However, today’s blog isn’t really about the scam. It’s about what happened to my heart.
When I saw that email, I coveted that piano. Oh, how I wanted it! Of course that’s what the scammer intended. After opening the email, my first thought was how exciting it was for the church. But then I really wanted it. I even asked our pastor for it when I forwarded him the email. I obsessed over it all day, thinking of convincing words.
But the Holy Spirit started at work on my heart. I tried to “reason” my way out of that nudging. I’d wanted a baby grand since I was a kid learning to play on our old upright. I deserved it. If it were at my home, I’d play it every day. But at the church, it would only be once a week. I felt that wasn’t fair to good piano! On and on I came up with excuses. And on and on the Holy Spirit kept gently working on my heart.
I went to bed that night still wrestling with it, and then – as I should have done from the start – began to ask God to make His will known. Of course, I knew what He really wanted – that piano was a gift to Him, and the worship it would bring through the church. When I woke up the next morning, my heart was at peace and my head was clear. As I chatted with our pastor about it this past Sunday, I shared with him what a struggle it had been for me.
Of course there was no piano, but as always, God turned it into good. He reminded me that human reason is tinged with sin and cannot alone be relied upon. His desire is for our seeking Him in our decisions, thus permitting His Spirit to accomplish His glorious work of redemption in our whole being, even our thoughts and desires. As it says in Romans 6:17-18: But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I realized the sin of coveting entered my heart, but our God, through Jesus Christ, has set me free from the penalty of sin and has already forgiven me. The Holy Spirit helps guide me to overcome those temptations as I welcome Him into my desires and dreams.
Praise God and Blessings to you today!
Sally