Sundays are always busy for the Terry clan. I would love to say I cook a wonderful Sunday dinner for my family, but normally it's pizza or a Pick 3 Bucket. The family felt like chicken today and we had some guys come over to watch the football game so I dropped Nick and the kids off at home and headed for Walmart.
I walked to the counter and ordered a Pick 3 Bucket. Lately, when we have ordered the bucket it has been over flowing with chicken goodness so I thought the bucket would supply us with enough chicken to feed a small tribe. Yet when I ordered, the kind employee in the deli carefully weighed the chicken and gave me what I deserved instead of the overflowing bucket. I was a little bit angry and disappointed I must admit. I wanted a kind employee to hook me up with popcorn chicken, not carefully weigh each piece like it was a precious commodity. As I drove home with my fairly measured Pick 3 Bucket, I was reminded of my choice to choose joy in all circumstances. My mind wondered and festered and I realized the underlying reason why this bothered me. I didn't want Walmart to treat me fairly, I wanted a hook up. I wanted someone to bless my day with a few extra pieces of general chicken and hot potato wedges. Then I had an epiphany and joy hit me hard as my heart was flooded with happiness and warm fuzzies.
My God doesn't treat me fairly. He loves me so much He sent Jesus to give me want I didn't deserve and never could have earned. Praise God he doesn't give me what I deserve but hooks me up with grace and mercy because He loves me. Through Jesus, I am allowed to lay down my life and give my sin and worries to Him. In return God the Father gives me grace, freedom, and liberation. Praise God He doesn't weigh my sins on a scale but He takes my sin to the cross where He ultimately prevails!
I don't get what I deserve, I am treated so unfairly by my God and being reminded of this through an experience at the Walmart deli causes me to celebrate the goodness of my God the whole car ride home. Celebrate my friends when you think you are not getting what you deserve. Choose joy when the world tells you to feel like a victim. Allow God to work through those moments in your life and mold you in humility and grace. For our God did not give you what you deserve and through His mercy chose to treat you unfairly. The fullness of His love and mercy should bless our days no matter if the world hooks us up or not.
We must consciously choose to celebrate through the anger and disappointment, it is what's sets us apart from those who claim to know Christ and those that follow Christ. Choose to celebrate my friends. Fill your heart with happiness and warm fuzzies even if they do not fill your Pick 3 Bucket.
Let grace, mercy, and peace be with us in truth and love from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, Son of the Father!
~ 2 John 1:3
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