Lesson Two: Who am I to think I can improve on the execution of God’s plan?
/The Lessons I Learnt From Trying To Give A Homeless Man A Sandwich.
Lesson Two: Who am I to think I can improve on the execution of God’s plan?
If you haven’t read the preceding post where I share the story of trying to give a homeless man a sandwich, I encourage you to take a few minutes and read about it here.
Check out Lesson One here.
Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
“Lunch rolls around and this man pops into my head again, so I think “I know, I’ll but him a sandwich. That’s far more nourishing than a cup of coffee.”
On my way back from my lunch break, I picked up a sandwich and headed over to the church. The homeless man was there. My friend and I walked up, introduced ourselves and asked if he would like a sandwich and he said…. “No.”
Awkward.”
Coffee. God told me to get coffee. But for some reason I got it in my head that a sandwich would be better.
How often have we encountered a call or request from God and thought to ourselves “I can do better than that!”
Often when I reflect on this encounter with Graeme I think about what would of happened if I had acted on God’s request rather than my re-write. Would Graeme have accepted my offer? Maybe we would have talked for awhile. Maybe I would have had a chance to talk to him about Jesus. Only God knows what the original plan was.
The problem that existed here was not God’s choice of charity but my pride. For some reason I believed I knew Graeme’s needs better than God did. How stupidly prideful of me.
To have your charity rejected is a very humbling experience. Even if your heart is in the right place, it doesn’t mean you are in the right.
God’s call or request is not a suggestion. It is not up for discussion. God doesn’t need your two cents. What God needs, is your action. Your willingness to go when He calls you. Your willingness to be interrupted. Your willingness to acknowledge your life is part of a greater narrative being worked out and your willingness to follow God’s call is critical to how God expresses His love in the world.
Don’t stall, friend. Don’t try and improve on God’s plan. It is already infinitely perfect in every way.
In addition to the above, I also want to highlight that there is grace. My lack of willingness to execute on God’s plan as He requested me to, does not disqualify me from His grace. My disobedience doesn’t cancel out or remove the love of God. I know I am forgiven for my lack of obedience. I know God will not disqualify me from his work because of this one experience.
I just wonder what would have happened if I had simply said yes the first time.
The point is the Holy Spirit served me a wake up call that morning. I am no one compared to Christ. So, if God asks me to do something there is a reason He has asked me at that time and for it to be that thing. If I had humbled myself enough before the Lord, I could have avoided an awkward situation.
Here’s hoping that the lesson has been learned and the next time the Lord prompts I won’t be so full of myself to believe I can execute on His generosity and kindness better than Him.
