Intentional Faith

I was born with nerve deafness. As a result, I know when someone is speaking, but I can’t always tell what they’re saying. I miss certain sounds and sometimes what people are saying sounds like a foreign language to me. There are also certain sounds I can’t hear. One of them is an alarm clock.

In the retirement community in which I live, we have a bus that takes us on trips and errands. One of these trips is a weekly run to Hannaford on Fridays, a local food store at 7:00 a.m. Not being able to hear an alarm clock prevents me from taking advantage of this service at that hour. I asked about a later time; I was abruptly reminded that the bus leaves at 7:00. I was also told that scheduled “Errand Days” are not for food shopping. There are additional monthly trips to Market Basket and Trader Joe's in addition to trips to Wal-Mart and an Italian deli. Originally, those trips were scattered throughout the month, but lately, they’ve been scheduled for Tuesdays, the day of my Bible Study which is common knowledge among my fellow residents.

I became very angry at this change of schedule and felt targeted because I challenged the system, so to speak. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not. It could just be scheduling issues during the holiday season. My anger intensified even causing health issues and panic immediately set in because I forgot that God always meets my needs. I am a very independent person and it's difficult for me to ask for help. Taking advantage of the bus trips helped me to be responsible for myself. But once I put my pride aside and reached out for help, the floodgates opened. I received phone calls from several people offering rides to stores. Scheduled trips and impromptu trips.

Psalm 37:7-8 reminds us: Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways... Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. Sometimes the gift that God gives us is courage. If I had not put my pride and anger aside, I would have missed God’s extraordinary provision. I would have missed the love of my neighbors and the example they set for me to always look to see where I can be of help to someone else.

In the Jefferson Moore movie, “Nikki and the Perfect Stranger”, one of the characters, a minister named Tony, said he never stopped being amazed by God. I’ve been thinking about that line a lot lately. God IS amazing and sometimes we must intentionally be aware of all the ways He is looking out for us instead of looking inward at our problems. I hope I never stop being amazed and surprised by Him.

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19