I started drinking with my friends, and on Fridays we got into the habit of going out drinking. What I want to tell you is that nothing works out well for me. I think that I have bad luck…. In the last few months I have lost a lot of things…. When I buy something valuable, it always gets stolen. If it isn’t because of carelessness, it’s because of theft. What can I do so all this will stop?
Dear Friend,
It is very interesting that your question is about the loss of valuables, yet you mention that you have started drinking with your friends. Do you think that the loss has to do with the drinking? You also state that bad luck is a possible cause for the loss of items, but then you mention that sometimes it’s carelessness on your part that leads to the loss.
I think that the reason you mention the drinking is that you know that the alcohol causes a lack of control of all of your actions. It makes you forgetful, and you end up leaving things behind. The next day you can’t remember all that you did, or where you left the things. The alcohol also makes you an easy target for thieves who know that you are not paying attention.
My mother and stepfather used to drink every Friday night after work. They got paid on Fridays, so they had the money to pay for a night on the town. My brother and sister and I would wait for them to come home, wait to have dinner, and finally fall asleep waiting. They would stumble home in the middle of the night, many times having lost or wasted the money from their paychecks. Then there was no money for rent or groceries the following week.
My parents didn’t intend to waste or lose their money. They didn’t intend to leave their children at home alone with no dinner. They didn’t intend to do things that they wouldn’t even remember the next day. But when they chose to go out drinking, it almost always ended up the same way.
I am sure that you don’t intend to be careless or inattentive. You don’t intend to make decisions that will negatively affect your finances the next week. But when you take the first drink, you have decided that it is worth taking the chance.
Some people go out with their friends and don’t drink alcohol because they don’t think it’s worth the risk. Other people drink one alcoholic drink and then change to non-alcoholic drinks. However, the majority who “go out drinking” think that it is not only acceptable to become inebriated, but actually have that as their goal. They call it “getting wasted,” and they think that they enjoy it.
The Apostle Paul advised us, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.”(1) Notice that luck is not the cause of a ruined life. Neither is luck the cause of the loss of your valuables.
Your Heavenly Father cares about your loss. He can help you in every area of your life if you will just ask Him.
We wish you well,
Linda
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1 Eph 5:18 (NLT)