Author: A Little Faith Lift…Finding Joy Beyond Rejection
www.alittlefaithlift.com
AWSA (Advanced Writers & Speakers Assoc.)
The story is told of a little boy who lived in a ghetto. Because of his strong belief in God, his friends constantly teased him, saying, “If God loves you, why doesn’t he take care of you? Why doesn’t God tell someone to bring you shoes or send someone with a warm coat? Where is the good food you’ve been asking God for?” The little boy thought for a moment and with tears in his eyes, softly said, “I guess He does tell somebody but somebody forgets.”
I am afraid that too many of us are that “somebody.”
We see the man on the side of the road, holding his cardboard sign that lets us know that he is homeless, broke, a veteran, asking for money. The scribbled writing ends with “God bless you.” We drive away. After all, he could get a job; everybody is hiring. He probably will buy alcohol with the money we give him, anyway.
Our neighbor recently taped aluminum foil to her windows in an effort to save on her heating bill. Embarrassed? You betcha. What’s this neighborhood coming to?
We watch obese people struggle to manage their Walmart shopping cart and put groceries into their car trunks, and we scurry on by. After all, it’s not our fault they don’t try to get in shape, and we’re in a hurry to get home from work. They should try to walk a mile in our designer shoes!
The call goes out for volunteers to hang wreaths on the tombstones of the soldiers buried at our National Cemetery or place flags in the ground at our National Fort, but that’s the day we are having a family get together or a lunch date with a friend. Just too busy!
How about this one? I know that I should take a meal to ________ who is going through a difficult time right now, but I’m sooooooo tired.
And yes, some of us have tried to help and have gotten burned. No fun. We offer our couch for a two-night stay that turns into a two-week visit. Our guests do nothing to help but treat our offer as something they are owed. Or we “loan” money, never to see an attempt to repay. We vow never to help again.
What’s really sad is when we tell someone we will pray for them, and then we don’t. (My hand is raised here.) My intentions are good. My actions? Not so much. And then they let us know that all is well and thank us for our prayers, and we don’t admit that we forgot or just were too preoccupied to follow through.
Not everything needs to be a grand gesture. Sometimes, we just need to keep our antennas up and be aware of needs around us. A smile. A compliment. Opening a door. The other day in Costco, I stood in the line that, of course, was the slowest one available. The man in front of me had three orders, and something went wrong with the way the employee rang them up. He needed a manager. The assistant manager came, but that wasn’t good enough.
As the other lines moved along smoothly, I turned to a young woman behind me. “This is my fault, you know,” I said to her. “You never should get behind me in a line; this happens regularly.” She grinned and said, “I sure hope you’re not going to Trader Joe’s next.” We both cracked up. When I finally got through the line, the register attendant looked exasperated. I paid and said, “Have a blessed day.” She stopped, looked at me and said that I made her day.
In the parking lot, I watched an elderly lady wandering, clearly looking for her car. Been there, done that! I pulled up beside her and asked what her car looked like and then drove around, looking for it, to no avail. Finally, I persuaded her to get into my car (she was terrified of me!) so we could search together. As it turned out, it wasn’t where she thought she left it.
Philippians 2:4 can change lives: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. We need to be determined to be determined not to forget.