UnderLearn/Overdraft

Today's lesson wasn't an easy one. I woke up to the tune of 3 overdraft fees for an account that I barely even use these days. I was so angry because I felt that I had clearly been wronged by the bank, and even if I was at fault these fees were certainly astronomical. Naturally, I called the bank's customer service department to request that these fees be waived. Sadly, that did not happened. Instead, I was left with the bitter taste of money wasted. I felt so wronged and violated by these charges. I thought that surely this bank must have a horrible reputation with consumers. Well, it turns out that I was right as I searched the internet for a place to find some sympathy. Sympathy is exactly what I found as I read numerous horror stories as customers criticized the bank's “deceptive” policies. I started to feel a little better knowing that I wasn't the only victim, but this feeling did not last long. While I was reading, I came across a consumer who had taken the time to post an excerpt from my bank's checking account policy. There it was, in not so plain english, the bank's terms and intentions disclosed and given to me before I'd ever completed a transaction with them. At that point, fair and unfair became irrelevant terms in reference to this policy and it became clear that my problem was not with the bank, but within me.

Even if I had be successful in recouping those fees, I would not have been better off than I was before they were imposed on my account. Evidently my problem did not stem from a lack of money, but a lack of knowledge and or ignorance. It wasn't just that I did not know the bank's policy, but more importantly it was because I did not read the terms of my checking account(I ignored them).

This, my good friends, is why we suffer. We think that we need more, but if we knew more about what we had our needs would be less. This blog is not about money, but ignorance. In this case, I asked God for more and instead He showed me how I had mismanaged what He had already given me. In essence He said to me, “you are being destroyed in the area of finances because you ignore the knowledge required to successfully manage them.” I asked for more money, God gave me more knowledge. Although the bank's policy on fees is pretty unethical, it was actually my ignorance of their policy that gave them permission to take advantage of me. The most interesting thing about banks in general is that they invite and reward educated consumers with wealth, and reject and reward ignorant consumers with poverty. I was just about to declare this an evil practice until I realized that God does the same thing. Please read this scripture and have a blessed day! Hosea 4:6, "my people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your children."