After going from one end of town to the other trying to find the weekly specials and having missed lunch, I was hungry and tired. I couldn't wait to get home.
I was in the third grocery store standing impatiently in line when it happened. A young mother carrying her baby in one arm and three or four items in her other arm pushed her way in front of my grocery cart as though I wasn't even there, and then had the audacity to challenge me with a look that said, "So what are you going to do about it."
Now, did Miss Spiritual graciously smile, and feel compassion for her? No, I did not. I mean, after all, she could have a least been nice about it, and asked me if I minded if she went first. Right? But, she didn't, so I glared disapprovingly at her and told her I was next in line. All to no avail, of course. I was still glaring at her back as she left the store.
No sooner had the doors closed behind her than God began convicting my heart. Because of my impatience and irritability and, yes, anger, I had failed to be courteous as a Christian.
Dying to self isn't easy, is it? We have such a fixation about our own importance. Someone gets in our way or things don't go the way we want them to and our flesh raises its ugly head and demands its own way, its rights; and isn't it something how we rationalize about the things we do wrong in order to be effective followers and witnesses of His?
It's a constant battle, but I can say that when I allow the Lord to master me I'm able to master the irritations and frustrations that come my way, and so can you. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control us He can produce the fruit of the spirit in our lives, so that we can respond the way God wants us to when confronted with the annoyances and challenges of our daily living. I still feel bad about that incident, but I can't go back and undo it. I'm just so glad that God still loves me the same even without my "halo" on.
