My heart is led to share what happened to me today. Not to influence you either way, but to remind us that our words and actions matter.
I was doing my grocery shopping this morning at our local Walmart. Our town has a ‘mask mandate’ as does the store itself have a sign telling everyone to wear their mask as they enter. I have a cloth mask that I do wear to make others comfortable. It is annoying and constantly fogs up my glasses, however by nature I try to be a rule follower. I try to be peaceful unless it directly goes against God’s word. In fact, God commands us in Romans 12:18 to: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” To live peacefully, sometimes I need to respect others wishes.
I purchased a large quantity of groceries. It takes a lot to feed a family our size for any length of time. I often buy 2 or 3 of every item because we use it so quickly. People sometimes make comments and not always nice ones about the contents and quantities in my cart. Frequently people feel the need to tell us that our family is ‘too large’. One man, a few years ago even ventured as far as to say “I’d commit suicide if I had that many kids” all in the checkout. I rarely take my children to Walmart, so he wasn’t commenting on their behavior, just giving his opinion about my decisions.
So back to today. By the time I had place two heaping carts full on the conveyor and then back into the carts, I was HOT, SWEATY, and OUT OF BREATH. I did briefly pull my mask off in the self-checkout, away from everyone else. However, before I walked out of the store I had it back in place. Once I was in the parking lot, I removed it again. Our mask mandate states we can go without it outdoors. I am not afraid that I will catch it in the open blowing wind. As I walked through the parking lot, a woman in her car was yelling out the window at me. I ignored her and proceeded to my vehicle load two baskets worth into the van. Again, hot…hot…hot, it’s over 95 degrees here and humid! As I was working BY MYSELF, she proceeded to drive by again yelling at me about how dangerous I was. Some people feel the need to not only push their own personal fears and opinions, but to also accuse others of things unjustly.
Romans 13:1-2 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
I hope by now you hear that it is important to me to follow scriptural principles. I was following our local government’s recommendations. I’m pretty sure her harassment however would not be considered following the law. Her behavior did NOT make me want to grab my mask and shove it on. It made me wonder, when as a nation did we become so rude? When did we think hatefulness became acceptable to make others share our beliefs? How will we teach our children manners if we keep going around acting so unkind to each other? We need to prayerfully gain some wisdom, Godly wisdom. Its hard to show love and be hateful at the same time.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13
“Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2
Again, I have no desire to influence (or even have you comment) about masks. That is not what this post is about. It’s about gaining wisdom, being polite, and showing love to others.
John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
By the way...each child of mine is a blessing from God that we are grateful for. Even when people say dumb things about my kids, I still am loving. I try to live by GRACE.
No comments:
Post a Comment