WOW Number 2

The following is a note, posted on Facebook yesterday by my niece, Jill Murray. She is finising her undergrad degree at Abilene Christian U in Texas and then pursuing a career in psychology. Again, WOW!

“I turned my back“

I felt it was time for a new note, since it has been a while since I have written one.

As I was sitting in class today, I was just thinking and almost dazing off about random things in my life. School, relationships, family, organizations, etc. It was weird. I got to thinking about how each thing I am involved in, gives me something different that I can take away. Isn’t it amazing how God provides us all with all these ways to learn things? It could be through something so simple, yet we can take the biggest lesson from it. It’s a weird concept… to know that something so little can teach us the biggest lesson. Like take today for example. I was getting gas before class this morning and I slid my debit card and the reader wouldn’t work and I got so frustrated. “Because it’s inconvenient.” So I got my keys and locked my car and walked in the store and there was standing about a 17 year old girl working the register and she was bawling. Her face was so swollen from tears and she was just standing there and when I walked in, she almost tried to play it off. I felt weird at first because I didn’t know if I should ask if she’s okay or just ignore it like I thought she wanted me to. So I gave her my card, responded politely when she asked how my day was, and got ready to leave. So I turned my back and started for the door and I got this weird feeling i my stomach, kind of like I should stop. So I turned around and she had already cried more from the time when I went to leave, to the time when I turned around.

I looked at her and just said, is there anything you need? And needless to say, we sat there and had an hour long conversation about certain things and it was a blessing because no one came by the gas station during that time. All in all, she just needed someone to listen and God worked his magic.

The point of this story is what I was taught out of it. I was taught, that honesty in all, I turn my back on people… a lot. When they need someone, I tend to turn my back sometimes because I get afraid. I get scared of what could be possible or what trouble could be going on and it’s selfish. I think more than 10 of us can relate. We get scared of the negative and of the dark times. We want to think that everything is okay at times, when in reality, it may terrible. I am not speaking for anyone, but I am sure someone can relate. To the fact that sometimes we do get scared and we don’t know what to do or how to help handle it.

But the thing to understand is that it rains… it rains a lot. And the point of strife and trouble is that HE wants to hold you when times are unsure or dark. He gets to be there when we need him, instead of when we want him. It should be both ways, but often times we call upon him when we only need him, not because we want him there. He works thru ways that we may not even fathom until we join him. He sends people, things, situations, opportunities because he knows it is what we need, even though it may not be what we want. The point I am trying to get across…. Don’t ever be scared to help someone or not have confidence in helping someone. I know I should listen to my own words, which I will, but understand we are all here on earth to help each other. I appreciate what God taught me to today because it was something that needed to be pointed out, to humble my thoughts and keep me on the ground. He knows exactly what to do to clear up questions or confusion I may have about myself or a situation.

If you’re reading this, I challenge you to try to listen more to him and see that opportunities are in your life because he put them there, not because we did them ourselves. Everything we have, revolves around the fact that he provides for us. I mess up, big time… but I cannot dwell on it. I can move on and take what I’ve learned and try to make it better. I am human. Humans fail each other constantly, it’s just a way of life. But there is always room for second chances, and third, and fourth chances. Try not to hold grudges because it will eat at you, just as it has me in the past few weeks. Try out a new way: try looking at someone thru the way Jesus sees that person. Pray for it. Pray for vision like his for one day, and you might be surprised what you see.