Funny thing happened, TODAY.
I had a plan. I had goals. I was going to be a walk-in visit to the chiropractor, then off to the gym for a good workout, then to work. In that order, thank you very much.
God had other plans.
For whatever reasons, I had been already thinking about my Christian t-shirts, and the fact that I had not really been wearing them lately. I thought about all those folks at the gym I come in contact with almost every day, that could be witnessed to, through conversation surrounding those phrased shirts. So, I decided I should wear one-today. I wore a black t-shirt with white writing across the middle that said, "Got Jesus?"
The traffic was unusually bad this morning on Hwy 155. I griped to myself about how I was barely going to be able to get these two runs accomplished with all this slow traffic out here.
Well, not even 2 miles up the street from my house, the woman in front of me came to an abrupt stop. Thankfully, I saved enough room between me and her, to be able to safely stop. The woman behind me, however- could not. She was following too close. She rear-ended me good. I found myself immediately mad, because this was "throwing a wrench in MY plans!"
I called 911, called my husband, and sat there a few minutes, just calming down. God reminded me of what MY SHIRT read- and that it would be either painfully clear that I had Christ IN ME, or "not," depending on my attitude I got out of that car with! So, I willfully chose "yes" to His reminder of gentle expression.
Job 23:16
For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me....
The woman was distraught that she had hit me. She sobbed bitterly to the point that I was worried about her. She was not physically hurt, but very broken. I think she was worried that I would develop injury from the hit. I assured her that I was ok, and everything was FINE. I explained to the police that she merely followed too closely, and hit me on a quick break. He asked me if I had any complaints....because if I did not, he would charge her at fault, and file no citation against her. Her husband had shown up, and told me that his grandmother had just died, and they were going to a funeral shortly.
Obviously, not a good day at all for this woman and her family. I let him know that I would by no means cause them any more grief than this has already done. I figure, as long as their insurance covers the repair on my car, I'm good.
So, lesson for today? My plans... mere rubbish. God has a different idea than me, USUALLY.
This woman needed a kind word, a soft tone, a sweet spirit- that only God can deliver, and He does this through His people sometimes. I can only hope that She saw Jesus in me, by the way I handled myself, AND HER. Did she see my shirt? I'm certain. Life and death was being addressed today... in more ways than one for this family. I hope that somehow...today was a successful day in the Lord with this servant. I believe that sometimes, folks can get a multitude of words, just in your actions. Sometimes you don't have to say anything at all, to give a clear message. Scripture says it is good to be more of a listener, rather than a talker.
| Ecc 5:1-3 | Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. | ||
| Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. | |||
| For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice [is known] by multitude of words. |
With regard to the Lord... are YOU "following too closely?"
I SURE HOPE SO!
Psa 145:9
The LORD [is] good to all: and his tender mercies [are] over all his works.
