“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all...” Psalm 34:19
I was so mad sitting there watching my sister rummage through her purse, as if something would magically appear. It was 5:30 in the morning and I’d gotten up at the crack of dawn to drive from my midtown home, to pick my sister up from her Cordova job, to take her to her South Memphis home, before I could return home and get ready for work. Giving up 2 hours of sleep to help her out was not ideal, but I was willing to do it for my baby sister. I pushed through the swollen, sleepy eyes and sporadic yawns, as we navigated the light traffic. Everything was going without a hitch, that is, until we pulled up to her house and her facial expression changed. “What’s wrong?” I asked, as I could feel myself getting upset, though I didn’t know the answer. She just stared at me for what seemed like forever. “What, child? What’s wrong with you?” I asked, again. This time, my irritation was quite apparent. She looked at me, shaking her head and said “Please don’t be mad, but I left my house keys in the cooler door at work!” Needless to say… I got mad!
As a matter of fact, I went off. How dare she be so careless and thoughtless!? Here I am doing HER a favor and she didn’t think to make sure she had her keys? “Don’t you have a spare key?” “No!” She answered, with tears welling up in her eyes. “I really didn’t mean to leave the keys. I’m sorry. I was just in a hurry because I didn’t want to make you wait outside for me.” By this time, the tears started rolling down her face and my heart started to ache. The Holy Spirit then whispered to me “How dare YOU!” and I began to weep with my sister. Here I was in a position to not only help out someone I loved, but I was also given the opportunity to offer compassion and grace. Unfortunately, all I can think about was how inconvenienced I was. My sister was right. It’s not like she purposely left the keys or tried to inconvenience me in any way. It was just one of those moments where an honest mistake happened. I felt so ashamed. As we drove back to Cordova, I realized that God picked me for that exact situation. I had a lot of flexibility that day and didn’t have to rush to work, so being late would not have been an issue. Had she asked another family member, there could have been consequences, if they were late for work.
That situation reminded me of God’s grace and how He never sees us as an inconvenience. We all face problems, big and small, but God already has a plan to deliver us from them. Psalm 34:19 tells us that even the righteous man has many troubles. As a unified church and as individual Christians, there will be times when we are placed in situations to help someone and it won’t seem so “convenient” at that moment. This month, our goal is to place a new tune in heart. We can look at situations as mere inconveniences, or we can change our mindsets, change our tunes, and see how God is using us for that exact moment. We are all servants and have a choice to complain about it, or sing joyfully unto the Lord. Let’s serve one another and be glad!
Heavenly Father, thank you for every opportunity you give us to show compassion, grace and love. Help us to see an opportunity, instead of an inconvenience, when serving your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen
By: April Carter
