Life’s Hidden Costs

---

Have you ended up spending more than you wanted to?

Or, to put it differently, have you ever been misled by the face value? So you end up spending more than the amount you intended to spend? Or end up paying more than what you can see on the price tag?

In fact, if you carefully review your receipts, you will find that some taxes have already been accounted for.

So, what are “Hidden Costs”?

Hidden costs are unforeseen expenses added to purchases. They can be minor, like the ones you see on your receipts. They can also be substantial, such as the various closing costs added when buying a home. Have you ever been a victim of hidden costs? 

Leaving the commodity market, life has many hidden costs. Every decision we make has a cost. In fact, life itself is an invitation to make decisions daily.

When we wake up, we decide what we will do that day. We can wake up early enough and get into memes and reels. As well, we can choose to do something worth sacrificing our morning sleep for. Something like studying, devotion, fitness routine, or setting ourselves up for the day.

When hungry, we decided what we would eat, considering the menu. We can choose to eat from “the perfect plate” or indulge ourselves with some junkies. And some are so in a hurry that even whatever they get from the dustbin will do. And between the two, our health will have a story to tell.

When we are convinced of the need to jump out of the league of singles, we make a decision on who is going to be our life partner. O yes, we choose our partners, and our partners choose us. Whether a liability or an asset, life will tell.

So, life, summarised, is an invitation to make decisions as long as time lasts. Our choices can’t be assumed, unless we can comfortably pick the tab when all is said and done. There is always more than meets the eye. We should also consider it a cost to meet.

The life of a prophet provides a compelling case study to illustrate this lesson effectively. Let’s examine this through a biblical lens.

The Case of Prophet Jonah

There is a man called Jonah, a prophet of the Lord. He neglected a call to mission and chose to go to the far Country of Tarshish, where he wouldn’t be held accountable by God.

 Here is a snippet of the story:

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” [NKJV Jonah 1:1-3]

Divine appeal involved sounding a warning to the rebellious inhabitants of Nineveh. This was not an easy call. The Assyrians, whose capital was Nineveh, were very cruel and inhuman folk. It was perilous to go face them with words of warning. Going to evangelise them was like seeking an exit plan away from life.

Jonah found this too much. He settled for a far country where he would not be held accountable.

He chose this path to conveniently keep silent when the world needed to hear the truth. Considering the forebodings and uncertainties that Jonah expected, Tarshish was a more affordable option. 

The cost of a trip to Tarshish appeared to be the only expenditure on logistics. The Bible records that the prophet paid his fare. He paid his fare and must have been resting carefree. If he was worried about anything, it was only the delays of the mariners in setting the ship on course. He expected comfort all through, to be woken up to alight at his destination. 

Was that the case? Unfortunately, there was much more to be paid.

No sooner did they set sail than the hidden costs of his decision began playing on his face. A terrible wind erupted, threatening to capsize the ship. The sailors, pushed to the end of their wits, decided to find out the source of the bad omen. The prophet sleeping at the wrong time was duly found guilty through casting lots.

The mariners were further pushed to a tough decision: accepting corporate death or allowing Jonah to face the consequences. The solution was that Jonah must be sacrificed for them to live; a cost Jonah did not budget for.

Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.  Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you so that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.  Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows (Jonah 1:10-16, NKJV). 

Jonah found himself in the belly of a great fish. This was part of the cost of his decision that he hadn’t prepared for. Sudden death by drowning came as a bonus to the prophet who was seeking an unwarranted sabbatical from duty. The cost of the Tarshish decision included death by drowning, but it was not intelligible. Jonah knew nothing about this. He got overwhelmed when he realised he had chosen a drowner’s path.

Hidden costs came up and demanded attention. Isn’t life like that?

Bottomline

Don’t just look at things on face value. There is always more to life than meets the eye.

Just as the markets confront us with hidden costs, life does too. Some come in the form of employment, but at the expense of your mental health. Some appear like an easy route up the ladder, but on the receipt, as part of the total cost is your integrity! And many more like that.

As you make decisions, do so with thought, considering the possible outcomes. There is more which only time will reveal. They’re life’s hidden costs.