When circumstances look dire or just annoying, be
suspicious. God is up to something good! A little over a week ago, I saw this
first hand.
When I topped the hill at the entrance to the Costco parking
lot, I was surprised to see it packed with cars. I mean Gee Whiz! It was
Monday, November 28th, not Christmas Eve. I had to park a good
distance from the entrance to the giant box store. Thinking about the crowds of
people that obviously came with all those cars, Not-Joy, what I call the wicked side of myself, started up with the doom and negativity dreading having
to maneuver through crowded isles.
My family can
testify. I have a history of
frustration, discomfort and impatience with crowds of people. The noise, the
oblivious shoppers who park there buggies on one side of the isle and stand in
the middle of the remaining space so there’s no way to past them, quickly or
otherwise, can prick easily annoyed Not-Joy who lurks just waiting to spew her venom.
But I was faced with a decision, give into Not-Joy or was I
going to “listen” to the soothing, calming leading of the Holy Spirit. “Let
your gentle spirit be known to all
men. The Lord is near.[1]”
Real-Joy won out.
Allowing the Holy Spirit to do some correction in my
thinking, I changed it to, “This is good to park out here. There’s a shade tree
so Bear will be cool (this was the last warm day we had) and I’ll get more
steps in, more exercise. Thank you Lord
for helping me to stay disciplined to the exercise I need.”
There was a bit of a crowd in the store. People did block isles with their buggies, I
was bumped a few times, but I was able to make my selections and head to check
out.
Rounding the corner of the ‘nut isle’ I faced a crowd of
people there divided into 5 or 6 lines. Not-Joy
was sorely tempted to get frustrated; but again, whispered in my thoughts “Let
your gentle spirit be known to all
men. The Lord is near.[2]” Real
Joy whispered in my thoughts, “Thank you Lord for your peace”.
Much to my delight, the lines started to move quickly. I was
up to the checkout counter and handing over my card in less than five
minutes. The joy at such a simple action
just bubbled out. I looked at the
cashier and Real-Joy said, “You know with all these people in here, y’all are
doing a great job of getting folks checked out quickly.”
She smiled and said, “Thank you so much.” Pointing to a man
standing over near the wall, she said, “See that guy over there. (I thought the
grumpy looking one but didn’t say it.)He’s our boss. Would you tell him that?”
“Sure, I’d be happy too.”
So I pushed my buggy over to where he was frowning in an
intense conversation.
Again Real-Joy was motivated, “Excuse me. I just wanted to
let you know that your cashiers, especially Anna, are doing a great job
handling all these people and getting them out quickly.”
The grumpy countenance disappeared and was replaced by a
relieved half-smile. He exhaled loudly
and replied, “Thank you so much for saying that! I really needed to hear that! Especially
today.”
Real-Joy couldn’t help herself, “Merry Christmas!”
I left Costco with the groceries I needed but more
importantly with great joy in my heart.
I was so blessed to see what how a gentle kind spirit motivated by the
nearness of the Lord could bless a stranger or two.
I leave you with this encouragement. The Christmas season is
stressful. Satan is just lurking
waiting to trip up a belabored Christian to be ill-tempered and a failure at
letting your “gentle spirit be known to all me”. Suppress that complaining spirit,
take a breath every day, every hour or every minute and allow the peace of the
Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit to calm you. Every sparkling ornament,
every red bow, every present given or received, even the crowds of people are
opportunities to remind us “The Lord is near”!
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