Sometimes, if you’re like me, you just feel irritable. The other day, I was working a shift in the
middle of the day. My sweetie likes to
come and visit me during my lunch break.
I know he likes it so I let him.
This day as I got in the car, he asked what I wanted to do. I said, “I don’t care I just need to get away
from people for a little bit.”
Sometimes, when you’re in retail, when you’re on lunch you just want
some alone time. We ended up at a local
fast food place for a quick lunch, which was really supper. As we went in we were greeted by the youth
pastor of our church and his wife. They
are always delightful and generous. The handed us some coupons and we chatted a
little as we ordered. We ordered and
they sat in one part and we sat in another part of the dining room. Later, as we got up to leave our pastors wife
came up and apologized for not asking us to sit with them. I was humbled and amazed because I never
expect that kind of treatment from people.
Her next words made me smile. She
said, “I was just feeling cranky.” If
you knew her, you would know that it’s almost impossible to think of her as
cranky. She always treats everyone with
gentleness and respect. I loved that
she could be honest and just admit that she felt cranky and out of sorts. It seemed like a burden had been lifted; as
if it was “ok” to this way once in a while.
I assured her it was fine and it really was because, truth be told, I
was tired and would not have been good company.
As I reflected on this, I wondered, “Who said we as Christians we can
never feel irritated or down?” I know we
should never want to “wallow” in misery and self-pity but if we are honest,
sometimes things can get to us as Christians we have bad moments and we can get
irritated. We do have ways of dealing
with these feelings but sometimes others need to know that we are human and
have these feelings so they can hopefully see that we deal with our feelings in
a positive manner. Sometimes I think we
as Christians feel that we can never admit to our negative feelings. Funny thing is ummmmm…. God already knows,
and others, even Christians, may need to see our humanness. Sometimes we need to just be honest and say I’m
feeling cranky. No, we don’t need to unpack and stay there but if you’re like
me I can sometimes feel irritable for no reason. So if you happen to be “cranky pants” today it’s
ok. Allow
yourself a moment of cranky and move on. God still loves you and we will too.
As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a misse...
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