A couple of days ago Anne and I were shopping at Natural Grocery in Fargo. It was late and I was hoping to get some coffee beans that I had been waiting for. I had stopped a couple of times before, but they either were sold out or the shipment was delayed. I was feeling frustrated when coming up to the cashier when she asked me if I had found everything I needed. I responded by giving a curt answer, “No I hadn’t! I have stopped by a couple of times before and one of the workers had told me that the breakfast blend coffee would probably be in today’s shipment, but I see that it was not.” She patiently thought for a second and asked me if I would be interested in the coffee near where I was standing. I responded by saying that I had bought the pre-ground coffee yesterday but was hoping I would find the unground Breakfast Blend coffee in the back. Feeling frustrated, I paid her for the groceries, and I was busy packing them up when I noticed Anne (my wife) speaking quietly to the same checkout. When in the car I asked her what she was discussing with her. I thought maybe Anne was talking about how to get the coffee when it came in. Anne said that she was asking the checkout how she was doing and if she had a rough day. I then asked Anne what the young lady’s answer was. Anne said, “She told me that the day was filled with patrons rushing in to buy goods and fearing that they would not find what they felt they needed. I then asked her how she was doing. The young lady told me that she was very tired and was looking forward to heading home.”
I then realized that I was one of those frustrated and panicked customers who was making this young lady’s day that much harder. I realized that I was not concerned about her, but only my own needs. But, God in his loving patience was not finished teaching me yet. The next day as I was walking from my car to the coffee shop, I stopped to listen to a loud-sounding car coming up to the stoplights. My first reaction was that of frustration since I detested what I called the “Bugle Mufflers.” “Another kid with his loud car again!” I turned to look and spotted the car, and the first thing I thought after looking at the car was to say to myself, “That muffler is worth more than the car!” It screeched to a stop at the stoplight and what happened next made me halt in my tracks. I saw the young man reach over to the passenger window and hand a man some money. As the loud car took off, I could see that a man was standing at the stoplight with a sign asking for money to help him buy food. I then turned to watch the broken-down loud car take off into the distance in a cloud of smoke. I could then smell that he had belts in his engine compartment that were slipping and burning badly. Growing up with a father who as mechanic, I knew that his belts were about to break from the excessive slipping that came from almost being worn out. I realized that he had to drive fast to keep the engine going, since it was dying from a lack of electrical charge from his alternator belt slipping. He wasn’t showing off, he was just holding on with his broken-down car. It then came to me that this young man was giving to the homeless man on the corner money that was very much needed in order to keep his vehicle going, or for that matter money to live on. He was giving to the man on the corner out of his need, not his excess.
As I turned to go my thoughts went back to Jesus in the book of Mark, chapter 12:44 Jesus was talking to his disciples about giving and trusting God. After watching people put money into the offering box, Jesus from a distance pointed out an old lady putting two copper coins into the offering. Spreading his hands to all the wealthy giving large amounts of money and then to the old widow, he said, “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." I knew that a woman’s income in those days came from a husband who worked outside the home while the wife worked within the home. If the man died, it was left up to the grown children to help the parent. This lady obviously had no one to provide for her, but she gave non-the-less.
Thinking about this further, I came to realize that this lady depended on God to meet her needs.
In examining myself, I was upset about not having a luxury, “special ground coffee.” I was angry over someone else hoarding the coffee when I myself was wanting to do the same thing. In my selfish anger, I failed to notice the checkout who was having a very rough day. The next day I was still thinking of my own needs when I came to see the homeless man who needed money for survival, food to exist. On the other hand, the young man in the broken-down car was giving out of his need while I was angry over his noisy car, thinking at first that all he wanted was for people to watch his bugle exhausted noisy vehicle. I was judging him wrongly, and God was showing me in his gentle way that people are not always what they appear to be. He was revealing to me that putting others first is not always easy when scarcity is present, but God does not abandon us. I am coming to realize that God promises to take care of us, and he knows our needs before we do. Needless to say, sitting in the coffee shop, I drank my coffee in silence and pondered further what God was going to teach me.
