ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DAY
Seeing God
I had a decidedly bad attitude the other day.
In the morning, I was taking a homeless man to a clinic for his bad back and found myself drumming my fingers, thinking, "How late am I going to be to work?"
The man called while I was in a meeting at work to have me pick him up and bring him back to his camp and I was thinking, "Great, I've interrupted this meeting and now I'm going to miss lunch." There were problems at work, problems I couldn't fix for some reason. I was being rather snippy with people.
On the way home, I was scheduled to give another homeless man a ride so he could stay at our house and be close to where he was working the next morning. Heavy sigh. I'd have to make sure he had dinner as well as fixing something for the kids.
After dinner, I was tired, wanting to be left alone. A voice (it sounded like my own) suggested I treat myself to some frozen custard a couple miles from the house. I loaded my son in the back seat and off we went.
Halfway there, on the other side of the road, I could see a large, unkempt-looking man hitchhiking. That's pretty unusual in the affluent neighborhood I was driving through. Part of me thought, "Thank God I'm not going that way. I don't have to give him a ride." But I realized that, 10 minutes later, I'd be coming back.
In the morning, I was taking a homeless man to a clinic for his bad back and found myself drumming my fingers, thinking, "How late am I going to be to work?"
The man called while I was in a meeting at work to have me pick him up and bring him back to his camp and I was thinking, "Great, I've interrupted this meeting and now I'm going to miss lunch." There were problems at work, problems I couldn't fix for some reason. I was being rather snippy with people.
On the way home, I was scheduled to give another homeless man a ride so he could stay at our house and be close to where he was working the next morning. Heavy sigh. I'd have to make sure he had dinner as well as fixing something for the kids.
After dinner, I was tired, wanting to be left alone. A voice (it sounded like my own) suggested I treat myself to some frozen custard a couple miles from the house. I loaded my son in the back seat and off we went.
Halfway there, on the other side of the road, I could see a large, unkempt-looking man hitchhiking. That's pretty unusual in the affluent neighborhood I was driving through. Part of me thought, "Thank God I'm not going that way. I don't have to give him a ride." But I realized that, 10 minutes later, I'd be coming back.
"God," I found myself praying, as I watched car after car passing that man by, "Please let someone else pick him up. You know I'll stop if he's still there on the way back. But Lord, I'm just tired. Send someone else. I need a holiday."
Yes, a holiday, my mind echoed. That would be great... I got my frozen custard - to go - and started driving back, eyes scanning ahead on the roadside for any sign of the hitchhiker.
There he was. Car after car ahead of me drove blissfully by the man. My car coasted to a stop next to him. He climbed in.
He didn't look good. It had been a very hot day -- over 100 degrees – yet he wasn't perspiring. Just breathing heavily.
"Where you going?" I asked. "The hospital," he breathed. "I need to get my blood pressure checked."
God, I thought, please tell me you aren't going to give this man a heart attack in my car!
The hospital was less than a mile away. I dropped him at the entrance, helping him out of the car and making sure he felt able to get inside.
"God bless you and your family," he said. "I never would have been able to walk here."
Then he extended his hand and said, with no trace of a smile: "My name's Holiday."
…..The Daily Encourager (dlangerfeld@harrisburgbaptist.org) by way of “Christian Voices” (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)
There he was. Car after car ahead of me drove blissfully by the man. My car coasted to a stop next to him. He climbed in.
He didn't look good. It had been a very hot day -- over 100 degrees – yet he wasn't perspiring. Just breathing heavily.
"Where you going?" I asked. "The hospital," he breathed. "I need to get my blood pressure checked."
God, I thought, please tell me you aren't going to give this man a heart attack in my car!
The hospital was less than a mile away. I dropped him at the entrance, helping him out of the car and making sure he felt able to get inside.
"God bless you and your family," he said. "I never would have been able to walk here."
Then he extended his hand and said, with no trace of a smile: "My name's Holiday."
…..The Daily Encourager (dlangerfeld@harrisburgbaptist.org) by way of “Christian Voices” (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)
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