I have worked the last few Saturdays, and have been amazed at one thing…everyone is SO busy!!  I am used to parents and kids running through Monday-Friday as part of workweek activities.  And I have spent a lot of Sundays wondering where people are instead of at church, and why it seems so hard for people to come…and I have a much better understanding now.  And why Sunday is being used as a day of rest…just not a day of worship…because Saturday is a day that is sometimes busier and more exhausting than a weekday!

And it’s not just all about the kids and hauling them all over for sports, etc.  There are a lot of adults who work and/or are way too overscheduled also, with the same results..exhaustion by Sunday!

Now this is not an “anti” blog in any way.  I know the benefits of sports and other activities as well as anyone and believe them to be true.

AND YET!!  We live now in a country and world so filled with challenges and risks for true born again Christians who trust in the blood of Jesus for salvation and believe that they are called to live for Jesus.  We now know that persecution can and will happen here in our own country.  And yet!  The question I keep hearing from God about our lives is this..what are we, in all our busyness, doing to prepare facing that reality?

Is there any batting average or football skill that is preparing the next generation to face someone with a gun asking “Are YOU a Christian??” after just seeing someone shot for saying yes?  And will any technical skill, office time or golf score prepare an adult for a midnight raid in their neighborhood to “flush out” Christians by some radical group?

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 clearly states, “these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”  Wow…I was SO convicted when I studied that this week!  And from what I have seen there are many families that are doing this and doing it beautifully, in spite of their schedules!  AND they make worship and Bible study a priority…to the glory of God.

But I am also convinced of this..for most of us, there is a lot of room for improvement.  And there is NOT a lot of time to do it!  So my goal this week is to begin reshaping my priorities to be better equipped..and I pray yours will be too!

I witnessed one of the best “pay it forward” events today I have ever seen, for the most extraordinary reason ever.  One of my regular customers and her children drove up this morning, and we did our usual chitchat while her food was being finished.  I gave her the food and we finished the transaction, and I was ready to say goodbye when she took her hand off the steering wheel, and with an embarrassed look asked me how much the order was behind her.  So I told her the amount and that she was awesome for blessing someone. She quickly shook her head and said no, and then added this “I cut that car off in traffic while ago, we wound up here together and I want to apologize for doing that just because I was in a hurry!”

I was stunned by her honesty and her willingness to demonstrate humility and her love for God to all of us, and quickly took her money so she could get away.  The next car drove up and after I bagged her food, I gave it to the lady and told her it was paid for by the woman in front of her.  She was stunned also, and managed to ask “why?”  I told her it was an apology from that customer for cutting her off in traffic.   I reached for her drink next and when I turned to hand it to her, tears were streaming down her face.  She told me the woman HAD cut her off, but she was so moved she couldn’t say anything else..I just watched her drive off, totally amazed by what had just happened.

AND THEN!  My mind and my heart were overwhelmed with the fact that I had just been caught, tried and convicted of SO many times that I had been thoughtless, rude and uncaring of others and had NOT responded the way my customer did to her victim!  That customer’s act was the most beautiful picture of God’s love and grace, and it had touched me, my coworkers, her children, and especially the one she apologized too! It also touched the hearts of everyone I shared it with, and everyone they shared it with….!

So the point here is this:  if you’ve done wrong, no matter how small or how big, or whether anyone else would ever know, MAKE IT RIGHT as often as you can!!  I learned again today that apologies have more power than we will ever know, and God receives SO much glory for them!  If we really understood how open people are to apologies, and how God can radically use them to change lives, we would never hesitate to give them!  I plan to start acting on that immediately!

One of the most aggravating realities of working in a drive thru window is the ever present cell phone that SO MANY people are on when they pull up!  I understand that occasionally the phone actually rings while customers are in the drive thru line, and they feel compelled to answer it.

HOWEVER.  For every 10 calls, one is usually a genuine “oops I am here on the phone” apology…and there are 9 others that are on evidently the most important call of their lives, or they actually pick up the phone and dial while waiting for their food!!  This results in several things:  repeating orders several times to make sure they agree with it, repeating the total, repeating requests for condiments, and interpreting sign language to figure out what they want.  It is an extremely frustrating process for me and the cars behind them, because their line gets longer due to the increased time I am having to take.  It is also frustrating to the customer, because they don’t always get what they want how they wanted it, since they couldn’t stop talking or listening long enough to really communicate with me.

It is also interesting to me that their distraction affects the whole purpose of my being at work.  I am employed to provide the customer the best experience they can have, each time they come.  I want to be friendly, helpful, and fulfill their orders with excellence.  And I want them to feel important and glad that they came.

So, what is the point of this story?  Just this.  God has used this repeated scenario in my life to for a very distinct purpose…to show me exactly what happens when distraction is allowed to enter my times with Him.  There are so many times that I “drive up” – approach His throne – and am already “listening” to something else.  The cares of the upcoming day, the worries about family, or work, or the enemy, trying to divert my attention.  Sometimes it’s innocent – it happens before I “get in line” to approach the Lord.  A thought pops up right as I open the Bible, I remember something from the day before, etc.

Other times, though, I am just as guilty of spiritually multitasking as those who come to my window fully engaged on their phone and not willing to put it down!  I come to God in a rush, wanting great “service” (love, kindness and mercy) and yet not willing to stop what I am doing (listening to something else) to really pay attention.  I want Him to provide what I need (spiritual food) and also I try to get Him to make it faster.  No WONDER I come away from some of my quiet times frustrated and feeling like my prayers didn’t make it further than the ceiling.  No WONDER I go through some days feeling like I didn’t “get the right order” or didn’t get “listened to right”…because I started off all wrong!  You cannot approach the Lord, our Savior, our King, with any attitude other than that of complete and total devotion, and complete and total attention to Him and Him alone.  He deserves no less, and WE need to remember that!

So now, when I have one of “those” customers, I stop and thank the Lord for His reminder to me, and I commit anew to making sure that my times with Him are the of the highest quality!

I have heard that phrase SO often lately and God has been using it to teach me so much.  Here’s a few examples:

“When the baby comes, he wants to be in the delivery room with me, but my Mom is pitching fits coz we aren’t married..she thinks he has no right to be there! It’s so complicated!

“I haven’t seen my real dad in 2 years becoz he’s been living with different women and I never really know where he is..it’s complicated!”

“I don’t go to church anymore coz I got hurt, and really it’s a complicated story, you don’t have time to hear it!”

“Yes, we’re still technically married but I don’t see anything wrong with going out with guys until we get divorced..it’s so complicated, you wouldn’t understand since you’re happily married.”

Wow! And all of these were made by people who profess to be born again believers, as supposedly are their loved ones.  So what do they mean by “it’s complicated”?  While life most definitely IS complicated in this crazy world we live in, that’s not the reference point here.  I believe the real truth behind that statement is this…”I didn’t like the pace with which God was/was not working in my life, and I thought I knew best, and here I am!”  Or, “I didn’t think God’s Word was still relevant on this point so….”

In other words, the complications in these recent conversations I have had with people recently is the direct result of SIN..either on their part (#1 and #4) or others (#2 and #3) or a combination of both.  Sin, by it’s simplest definition, being disobedience to the Word of God whether in big or small decisions!

Our God is a God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33), peace (Isaiah 26:3) and has a definite plan for our lives as Christians to live worthy of His Name and for His glory.  He has promised that He will direct our steps (Proverbs 16:9) and that He will guide us through the Holy Spirit  and His Word.

SO!  How’s your life lately? Can it be described as a completely complicated mess?  Or as a work if the Lord that relects His image?  And if it is the mess, have you really stopped to reflect and ask yourself why?  I have been doing that in recent days, and I am allowing God to change me..do you need to join me?