"Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity" ~Colossians 4:5
I had an awful migraine, and all I wanted to do was go home and get in bed. However, the kids had been promised ice cream, so the bed would have to wait. We walked into the ice cream shop (which wouldn't close for another hour), and you would have thought we walked in 5 minutes before closing time. The young lady did not greet us, rolled her eyes as she got her utensils together and very rudely looked at us. We decided to just walk away and go to McDonald's instead. After we left, I called the shop back to ask when a manager would be in so that I could make him or her aware of the treatment we received when we visited this particular location.
At first, I was proud of myself because the old Scheri would have used some very nice nasty words to convey the fact that I was highly upset about this young lady's treatment of our family. Then, I began to feel convicted about the way I handled the situation. Really, I began to feel convicted because of the way I chose NOT to handle the situation. Let me explain...
I began to realize after much thought that had I handled the situation better I could have had an opportunity to be an example of the Gospel to this young lady. Instead of allowing my emotions to get the best of me, I should have taken this opportunity to show her a glimpse of God's love and grace towards her. For all I know, that young lady could have been an answer to one of my prayers: for God to send young women into my life for me to share my story in hopes of leading them to Christ and away from those things that separate them from Him.
Would it really have taken that much out of me to speak first and get her to warm up to me? Not at all! Instead, I missed the opportunity to extend to her the same love and grace that God extends to me daily. Had I taken the moment to talk to her, the Holy Spirit may have shown me that this young lady was in need of having someone show her love that night. Had I taken a different approach other than storming out of the ice cream shop that night, I may have had the opportunity to help this young lady realize how much God loves her and may have led her to salvation.
Although Christians are still humans (and we deal with human emotions in very real ways), when we think of the act of Jesus on the Cross we should be reminded that His death was our death to our old ways and sin's hold on us. Likewise, when we think of His resurrection we should be reminded that in Christ we have been risen above allowing those human emotions to control us. You see, often our human emotions, such as the anger I felt that night, lead us into some form of sinful act (James 1:20).
Don't misunderstand me, human emotions in and of themselves are not always sinful, but if we allow those emotions to control our actions that's when we possibly get into trouble. And even though the actions behind the emotions may not necessarily be bad, if we could have handled the situation another way we may have been given an incredible opportunity to share Jesus with someone else.
Yes, we are going to fail sometimes and may not always react to every situation in a Christian way, but we are supposed to do our very best to allow our conversation to be gracious and kind so that we may have a right response for everyone we encounter no matter how negative the situation (Colossians 4:6).
Although I didn't speak to the young lady that night, it was my lack of talking with the young lady that night that really bothered me. I missed the opportunity to speak a kind word to her (Proverbs 16:24). Had I spoken a kind word to this young lady the hardened shell of herself may have been melted and revealed a heart yearning to know more about how it was that I could respond in love instead of anger. Had I talked with the young lady that night I may have been able to share something with her that she could carry in her heart for the rest of her life: insight into God's grace towards her. Had I only let the Holy Spirit guide me as to how to approach the situation I could have made a positive impact on one person that would have caused the angels in heaven to rejoice (Luke 15:10).
Unfortunately, that day in the ice cream shop, I failed to think about the Cross and the Resurrection, but God extended His grace to me by forgiving me for my oversight. He definitely showed me that despite the fact that I am good some days, I will always stand in need of His grace, much like the people that I encounter on a day to day basis may need me to extend that same kind of grace to them.
The next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, be mindful not to react with your human emotions, and recall God's grace towards you in that moment. If you have a little more time to reflect before responding, recall this piece of advice I offer to you: every moment to effectively win a soul for the Kingdom of God matters. Don't react out of pride, hurt feelings or the feeling of being disrespected. In the moment that you want to respond in anger do your best to respond in love, knowing that you don't ever want to depart from a situation with the knowledge that you could have handled it differently and could have possibly walked away from a missed opportunity.
At first, I was proud of myself because the old Scheri would have used some very nice nasty words to convey the fact that I was highly upset about this young lady's treatment of our family. Then, I began to feel convicted about the way I handled the situation. Really, I began to feel convicted because of the way I chose NOT to handle the situation. Let me explain...
I began to realize after much thought that had I handled the situation better I could have had an opportunity to be an example of the Gospel to this young lady. Instead of allowing my emotions to get the best of me, I should have taken this opportunity to show her a glimpse of God's love and grace towards her. For all I know, that young lady could have been an answer to one of my prayers: for God to send young women into my life for me to share my story in hopes of leading them to Christ and away from those things that separate them from Him.
Would it really have taken that much out of me to speak first and get her to warm up to me? Not at all! Instead, I missed the opportunity to extend to her the same love and grace that God extends to me daily. Had I taken the moment to talk to her, the Holy Spirit may have shown me that this young lady was in need of having someone show her love that night. Had I taken a different approach other than storming out of the ice cream shop that night, I may have had the opportunity to help this young lady realize how much God loves her and may have led her to salvation.
Although Christians are still humans (and we deal with human emotions in very real ways), when we think of the act of Jesus on the Cross we should be reminded that His death was our death to our old ways and sin's hold on us. Likewise, when we think of His resurrection we should be reminded that in Christ we have been risen above allowing those human emotions to control us. You see, often our human emotions, such as the anger I felt that night, lead us into some form of sinful act (James 1:20).
Don't misunderstand me, human emotions in and of themselves are not always sinful, but if we allow those emotions to control our actions that's when we possibly get into trouble. And even though the actions behind the emotions may not necessarily be bad, if we could have handled the situation another way we may have been given an incredible opportunity to share Jesus with someone else.
Yes, we are going to fail sometimes and may not always react to every situation in a Christian way, but we are supposed to do our very best to allow our conversation to be gracious and kind so that we may have a right response for everyone we encounter no matter how negative the situation (Colossians 4:6).
Although I didn't speak to the young lady that night, it was my lack of talking with the young lady that night that really bothered me. I missed the opportunity to speak a kind word to her (Proverbs 16:24). Had I spoken a kind word to this young lady the hardened shell of herself may have been melted and revealed a heart yearning to know more about how it was that I could respond in love instead of anger. Had I talked with the young lady that night I may have been able to share something with her that she could carry in her heart for the rest of her life: insight into God's grace towards her. Had I only let the Holy Spirit guide me as to how to approach the situation I could have made a positive impact on one person that would have caused the angels in heaven to rejoice (Luke 15:10).
Unfortunately, that day in the ice cream shop, I failed to think about the Cross and the Resurrection, but God extended His grace to me by forgiving me for my oversight. He definitely showed me that despite the fact that I am good some days, I will always stand in need of His grace, much like the people that I encounter on a day to day basis may need me to extend that same kind of grace to them.
The next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, be mindful not to react with your human emotions, and recall God's grace towards you in that moment. If you have a little more time to reflect before responding, recall this piece of advice I offer to you: every moment to effectively win a soul for the Kingdom of God matters. Don't react out of pride, hurt feelings or the feeling of being disrespected. In the moment that you want to respond in anger do your best to respond in love, knowing that you don't ever want to depart from a situation with the knowledge that you could have handled it differently and could have possibly walked away from a missed opportunity.