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I have a problem

“Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away.” [Psalms 31:9 NLT].

We all have problems. Some have huge problems, others have small problems. Some problems are easy to solve, other problems are a source of trouble.

My “big trouble” started in early 2000. Sometimes problems hit us with such an impact and unexpected sudden that it appears as if one was hit by a bus when crossing the road. At least that is how it felt to me.

What about my problems?

In the beginning of 1999, GOD blessed my wife and I with the opportunity to buy a block of land to build our first home on for our family. It was a time of great plans and joyful expectations. We had the house plans prepared by an architect and after a few months we had it approved by the local Council (local government building authority), as we complied with all the requirements.

Six months after we had purchased our block and before we started building, a new neighbor moved to the property next door and showed interest in purchasing our land. The area comprised of our block and the neighbor’s property was part of little secluded forest sanctuary. Without our home, the neighbor next door would have a private area for himself.

In early 2000 we entered into a building contract with an experienced local contractor and started building. The day the builder started working on our block, the neighbor tried to prevent this and called the police. After this initial situation was resolved and the building work began again, we received a letter from the neighbor’s attorneys indicating that they would start legal proceedings against us on the Supreme Court of Australia. One thing led to another and we ended up in a legal battle in the Supreme Court.

It was a very stressful time for me and my family: the costs were very heavy, we had no certainty of any favorable outcomes for the case had no previous instances in the courts of Australia, and the fear of losing the case and having to pay costs and being under a huge debt was enormous. Within this context, our attorney suggested then that we should stop building in case we lose the case and had to demolish the house and waste any money we invested in it. This caused the dreams of building our first home to halt.

For me this was also a confusing time because I could not understand why this was happening. I felt helpless as I had to rely on the advices of an attorney that I did not know. I don’t like to admit it, but I felt similarly to Job in that one of the things that I feared most had happened to me: to be involved in a legal battle of huge proportions without the knowledge or the money.

Twelve long and taxing months later, thank GOD the case was judged in our favor and the neighbor’s case dismissed. His case was so weak that his attorneys could not even appeal to the judgment. He was ordered to pay part of our legal costs, but this turned to be impracticable to enforce.

After the first defeat, the neighbor’s attorneys realized the legal mistakes they had made and started a new case against us in the Land and Environment Court of Australia.

Four more years of battles and court audiences, dozens of reports from two Geo-Tech Engineering companies (they actually found out that our site was sitting on rock), Environmental companies (we had to prove that no endangered species would be affected), and other experts. A large amount of money wasted.

I do not know how we managed as a family to sustain this battle for so long. However, thanks to GOD we did! It is in times like that that we know that GOD is a present help.

The psalmist David describes well how I felt: “Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away. I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within. I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbors - even my friends are afraid to come near me. When they see me on the street, they run the other way. I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot. I have heard the many rumors about me, and I am surrounded by terror. My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.” [Psalms 31:9-13 NLT].

I wish I had, at that time, the same faith and confidence as David: “But I trusted in YOU, O LORD: I said, YOU are my GOD” [Psalms 31:14], and that I had held to this promise: “Wait on the LORD, and keep HIS way, and HE shall exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it” [Psalms 37:34]. For this was exactly what happened at the end of a five years battle: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yes, I sought him, but he could not be found” [Psalms 37:35-36].

At the end, Thank GOD the case was judged in our favor once more. Again the neighbor was ordered to pay costs. However this time he went bankrupt, lost his home, and moved away. As a result of their bankruptcy, he was legally not obliged to pay our costs, and we bore the responsibility for paying all the costs for the attorneys, engineers, experts, and everything else.

One may ask, “Why did you engage in this legal battle”? Had we not done what we did, we would have lost the case and would have been liable to pay all the costs for the other party; end up with a much bigger debt; and not be able to build in the block of land. Why? Because if one does not defend oneself in the courts, then one is subject to the decisions of the judge based on the story told by one’s opponent (originally the neighbors’ attorneys built a case that seemed to have some grounds – but at the end proved to have none).

There is no true justice in this imperfect world. You have to pay to prove your innocence. The law allowed this neighbor to run two court cases against us over a period of five years, causing us so much stress and debts, and at the end he ran into bankruptcy and away from all the costs he inflicted on us and was ordered to pay for. Ten years later we are still suffering with the financial consequences of that.

As a result of all the stresses I went through and did not managed well as I should have, I was left with a stress related allergy to pollen (hay fever) and to cold air (an unknown disease that causes rashes and itching on my skin when exposed to cold air). One upsets me in summer and the other in winter.

They are not big health problems, but like a thorn in the flesh it is something that is obviously there, it comes occasionally and spoils my enjoyment of some of the little moments of life. It is a nuisance that appears at times to challenge me.