Unable To Receive

She could not receive the blessing. It was nothing spectacular. There was no colossal spiritually gigantic metamorphosis happening. Just someone trying to do something nice for someone else without having any agenda.

Coming home from church today my wife and I stopped at Braum's. Not for ice cream, but for a few grocery items. I had all our stuff lined up and was being checked out when I noticed what items the lady behind us had.

Suddenly but calmly in my spirit (nothing super-dramatic) I just thought of paying for the lady's groceries. I'll admit that for a moment I was sizing up what that would cost, but after I had committed that I was going to do this, she reached up and added some more items! Too late, I had already said in my heart that I was going to do this.

Then I looked at the girl behind her and she only had 2 items. Ooh, spoke too soon! Just kidding. Anyway while the two ladies behind me were waiting, a new cashier appeared and opened up an opposing register and declared that she could now help someone at her counter. To this, both ladies behind me began to move to the other counter.

I said to the one (that I was first talking about) "You are leaving too soon." To which she said laughingly, "Why, were you going to pay for my things?" I said "Yes. I was!" Her entire countenance changed as what I said sunk in, and yet immediately she began to say "Oh no, no, that's all right, no, you don't need to do that." I said again, "I want to do this to bless you, I want to do it." Again she said "No, no, you don't have to do that." I continued, "I know I don't have to do it, but I want to do it, and it's okay with me if bring your stuff back over here right now and let me pay for it!" "It's not too late!" This continued for awhile, and I must say I was disappointed that she would not let me bless her for whatever reason.

Maybe I caught her off guard. Maybe she thought I was some weirdo looking to pull something. No, that couldn't be it because my beautiful wife Brenda is standing right next to me and if you could imagine her being a weirdo then you're a weirdo. Plus it being Sunday just after 12:45 pm we are both dressed as if most people would know where we've been. It would be obvious to many that we were just a couple of them church people trying to be big-shots, or we just came from a re-run of the movie Pay It Forward, or whatever other greedy secretive dark motives my wife and I had for this woman. Maybe she just didn't think that it was okay for someone else to buy her groceries. Well. that is her right, and I would respect that too if I believed that was it, but I don't believe that.

You see, unknown to her, I really did not have the extra money to buy her items. I was willing to do it simply because I thought the Lord was prompting me to do it. I'm trying to learn that at the very thought that He is trying to tell me something to do, that I just automatically do it without any hesitation or having to dissect it and run it by all of my other believing friends friends. Sometimes God just wants something done without having to wait on us to figure it all out before we give Him the thumbs up!

The truth is that the Lord just brought us some relief from a huge personal financially difficult situation that tried to take us down. God helped us. In case you missed that I said God helped us. It is amazing to me how it is that when God helps you, one of the first things you start thinking about doing or wanting to do is to help someone else. But you've got to be willing to receive. There is nothing wrong with receiving. God wants us to receive. How do I know this? Because if I'm trying to give you something, I want you to receive. This should not be complicated, but the devil had made it complicated by attaching a false humility and a condemnation to receiving. Get over it and receive God's best and then help someone else. I'm not saying that this woman is this way because I obviously do not know her and cannot judge that. I just wanted to do it, it is really just that simple.

Like I said, when God recently offered to help us with the situation I mentioned, I guess I could have said, "Oh no, no, you don't have to do that." But me? No way. I said bring it on and how much more of you can I get? Now see, your still thinking that I'm talking about money. Forget the money part! You can't get greedy while God is teaching you to continually be giving. It is only when you stop giving that you get greedy, and I'm still not talking about money.

I have a rule. I never dig up another person's seed, because I am not going to rob them of their harvest. Please don't ever dig up mine. If I offer you something, receive it with the gladness and joy that I wanted you to get from it when I gave it to you. There may be something of spiritual significance here, or what about just maybe thinking about someone else every now and then. Seems like that would just be a good thing to do . . .

Brenda said something to me about this that causes me to share this.

If someone offers to help you with anything at all . .

1) it does not mean you are not independent.

2) it does not mean you are not worthy of it.

3) it does not mean you are taking a handout.

4) it does not mean people feel sorry for you.

The biggest reason of all is plain and simple. Many people think that they do not deserve God's love and His help because of a variety of different reasons that they have been taught. And that my friend's, is just a big fat lie!

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