ARROGANCE, Plain and Simple

Photo belongs to Photofig (away for a while)

Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:3

I was thinking back to a day more than a year ago when the Lord gave me an "object lesson" to think about. Mondays are not usually good days for me and that Monday was no different. The weekend had been hectic, I was still tired and my work around the house had piled up while I took the day off for Sunday. I had planned to fix our usual "Monday lunch"….beans, rice and cornbread…..which I make on Mondays because then I don't have to think about what I'm going to cook!

But then I remembered there was okra out in the garden needing to be picked. The dog needed to be fed. Clothes needed to be washed and dried. Phone calls needed to be made to check on my Dad and his doctor visits. (Dad passed away one year ago next week) And I didn't need to forget…again… to read my Bible either. I did all that and then decided to fix fresh okra, fresh squash and fresh tomatoes for lunch in addition to our regular "Monday menu". I had planned to eat lunch with hubby, have his supper packed for work and myself ready to walk out the door at twelve noon sharp so as to be able to pick up a friend to take her to her regular visit to the eye doctor at one o'clock. Whew!

At twelve noon I walked out the door. Right on time. Things were looking better. My friend was waiting at our prearranged meeting place and I picked her up started off for her doctor's appointment. It was good to drive and visit and relax on the way. Just what I was needing. When we arrived at the doctor's office I went in with her to make sure everything was on schedule before leaving to run some errands of my own. As I sat in one of the blue padded straight chairs I saw a young couple with a beautiful black haired little girl come in. The girl looked to be in first or second grade to me and sounded very intelligent because I overheard her say to her mother, "Are you sure this is a children's clinic, too? It looks like it is just an adult clinic." I smiled to myself because she sounded so grown up and was so serious about it. In a few minutes my friend was signed in and I left to do my errands.

After the usual rounds at Dollar Tree for school supplies for friends, Wal-Mart for cleaning supplies, and Tractor Supply for flea medicine for my dog, I was ready to go back and see if my friend was finished yet. I went in the waiting room and after looking through stacks of financial magazines finally found one on good places to retire and sat back down in one of the blue chairs to look at retirement homes of the rich and famous.

I did not have time to even open the magazine before the daddy of the little black haired girl that I previously mentioned opened the door, walked in and promptly plopped himself down in the chair right beside me! Now, you need to know that I like my space. (And I'm not talking about that website of the same name either lest you are confused.) Before choosing the chair I was sitting in I had carefully sized up the other occupants of the room and distanced myself properly from them. I never, but NEVER sit directly adjacent to a stranger in a waiting room unless there is absolutely no other place to sit! So needless to say I was a little taken aback when he breezed in, sat down, smiled and then said, "I must have been following you! I left not long after you did and here I have gotten back just after you did!" It took me just a minute to follow his line of thought. My first thought was to smile, nod and then casually get up, choose another magazine....and another seat!

Arrogance…..plain and simple. That's what my mood was. But thankfully I overcame that feeling and although I did smile, I didn't get up and move. Instead I asked him how old his little girl was, if she was getting ready to go back to school….this and that. Just idle conversation with a stranger. Then he mentioned she went to a Christian school. Then I mentioned we had home schooled our kids. He said he and his wife had wanted to do that but that something happened that prevented them. He had my attention now! He told me that a little over a year before he suddenly began to have serious vision problems. A CT scan and a MRI showed a large and very rare type of brain cancer. He had to have surgery immediately. His doctor told him that he would most likely come out of the surgery either blind, deaf, or not able to speak…..or possibly even all three.

This man….I never did ask his name…..told the doctor that it was all right….that the Lord was going to be with him no matter what happened. But he CAN see, he CAN hear, and he CAN speak! All this he told me with a big smile on his face. Some of his words, as well as I can remember them were…"Sometimes things come on us unexpected but the Lord always works it out for our good." What a great testimony to the goodness of our Lord and to the faithfulness of His child.

How humbled I was by the time my friend came out and it was time to go home. What a blessing I would have missed had I listened to my tired, arrogant spirit telling me that I didn't want to be bothered with talking to a stranger who had actually sat in the very next chair to mine when there were empty chairs all over the waiting room! J The Lord knew I needed to be uplifted by hearing what He has done and hearing the praises this Christian brother was offering to Him. I am so glad that the Lord orders our steps…..and the chairs we sit in too!

May God bless you in the steps He has ordered for you today!

Marilyn