Today, my hubs and I had a rather Twilight-Zone-ish experience. All we wanted was to use a gift card to dine out at a favorite local restaurant. We drove the 20 minutes, zoomed into the parking lot, and saw … a ghostly building with a “closed permanently” sign on the front door. What a drag. Oh well, we’ll just Google the address of the second restaurant on the gift card. And by golly, this restaurant ALSO was permanently closed! Whaaaat? Ok, the third restaurant on the card we KNEW was open because we’d eaten there a couple of weeks ago. We drove another 20 minutes and arrived at a very closed building, but for this day only, for preventative repairs. By now, my stomach is gurgling and my blood sugar is starting to dive, and those little peppermint patties in my purse are siren-calling to me. I’m muttering in my mind that this is too hard, we should just go home and have a double-decker p.butter/jelly. We forget about the gift card and head for another favorite reliable restaurant … you guessed it. Finally, luck came with #5, where we indulged in something breaded, cheesy, and gooey. I desired a huge chocolate cake to finish off the meal, mostly to sublimate my confusion and low-level frustration, but I refrained from cake today.
Why am I dragging you along for this ride, you ask? Because, as usual, in my pondering of bad “luck” the Lord showed me to myself. Again. As I insolently asked Him, “so, exactly what was I supposed to learn from this runaround today?” and He said, “go sit in a corner with my Word and think about it.”
Ya know how when you’re reading in the Old Testament about the wandering, grumbling, disobedient Israelites in the desert for 40 years, and you think to yourself, “well, I would never behave that way.” Really? Pride, much? I then saw a gross similarity between me and them. I was wanting to go home and have pb&j. They wanted to go back to Egypt where all the yummy food was (Exodus 16:2-3). I grumbled about running in circles all over town for an hour, dodging road construction. They “were impatient because of the journey” and dodging the Lord’s disciplinary lessons (Numbers 21:45). Oh yeah, I’m waaaaay more righteous and pious than those guys.
My God, how I thank You, first for causing me to ask You for your purpose (even though with an attitude). And second, for Your immediate answer. I thank You that I needn’t worry about dying in the wilderness as immediate punishment for my attitude, because I know that You have already permanently transferred me to your Kingdom. I need fear no divine vengeance from You, knowing that your loving divine discipline is for my good and Your glory. I praise Your patience and tender mercy in dealing with me, your whiny child, teaching me to whine less, glorify me less, and praise You more.
