Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way... - Psalm 37:34a NIV
What is it that compels us to feel we must answer our own prayers, or drives us to not wait upon the Lord, but just barge ahead and do it ourselves? So often when we do that we end up getting in God's way, and we cheat ourselves out of the discovery that God had indeed heard our prayer, and was about to answer it - according to God's will, not ours. The worse case scenario is that in foolishly rushing ahead of God we ay inadvertently (or even worse, intentionally) hurt others.
Such is the case in this true story. [NOTE: I have changed some details to hide the "who," the "where" and the "when."] Nearly four decades ago in a rural community "Jed*" owned a small gas station/grocery store just down the road from a little Methodist Church. Anyone anywhere could be guilty, even today, of rush to judgment, and getting in God's way.
Many of the members of the church were his regular customers, and they often invited him to church activities, but he never came; that is, until he came to their revival (to this day he cannot tell why he went). At the revival, much to his surprise, and to the surprise of the church members, he accepted Christ as his personal savior, and he began to attend church there. Soon he was attending the only adult Sunday school class; and, in the tradition of too many churches then and now, it wasn't long before he was taking a turn teaching the class.
Once he started teaching the class he was forced to get serious about getting into the Word of God. He started studying for the lesson on Sunday afternoon, and by Saturday he had it pretty well figured out. What he lacked in skill and knowledge he made up for in enthusiasm. There is nothing more compelling and exciting than the lessons of one who is learning and discovering the age old Bible stories for the first time. That pure, child-like joy he manifested as he came to understand the Bible soon resulted in his becoming the only teacher of the class.
Jed taught the class for several weeks, and as he studied and prepared the lessons, God would speak to his heart and convict him of attitudes and behaviors. He was repenting and turning from something nearly every week, and he wondered if God would ever be done with him. He was also an increasingly compassionate man, and his concern for the poor and hurting was growing and becoming contagious.
Meanwhile, a woman in his class (one of its former teachers) was becoming increasingly agitated because he still sold cigarettes and beer at his station. She began to work in the background to get others in the class upset about this. Of course, neither she nor anyone else in the class ever mentioned these concerns to him, even though they all bought their gasoline and some of their daily groceries from him. Some of them were praying for God to touch his heart and help him see the error of his ways.
While this concern was growing God was reaching out to him through his daily Bible readings and prayer times. He began to be concerned that selling cigarettes and beer was a poor witness for Jesus. Finally one week, when the beer truck driver came he had him remove all the beer. "You'll never stay in business without beer," he threatened; but, it proved to not be true.
The cigarette man said much the same thing, but Jed insisted that he remove the cigarettes from his store anyway. To this day he does not sell either (or lottery tickets!), and he is still in business.
He was humbly excited about this decision, and ashamed that he had taken so long to catch on. He was looking forward to church the next Sunday and to telling the class what God had done. He never got the chance. When he stood to teach that Sunday, before he could share anything about what he had done that week, the woman who was so angry with him stood and publicly denounced him for calling himself a "Christian" while still selling cigarettes and beer.
He was shocked and hurt, but he said nothing. He simply closed the lesson book, picked up his Bible and left the church. He drove a dozen miles or so to the closest small town and found a church of a different denomination. He never went back, and it was many days before the other members of the class actually looked around his station and saw that he no longer sold beer and cigarettes. To this day he is a very active member of the church in town.
They told the woman in Sunday school about his changes, but her heart had grown hard, and she refused to believe them. They never did invite her to be their teacher again, and sadly she became more and more embittered over the years. Not trusting that God would hear and answer a prayer for his heart to change, she chose "play god" and cost that small church a very valuable member and teacher.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. - Luke 6:37 NIV
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