Lesson learned this past Monday

I'm usually "off" on Mondays. Sundays are long days for Pastors and Monday has just always been a good day to stay home in the mornings, refresh the spirit and ease into a new week. There are always several Mondays in the course of every year that require setting aside the "day off" mentality and just going ahead and getting something done that must be done even on Monday. Last Monday was one of those days. While my wife, daughter and granddaughter took off seeking adventure I needed to stop in at the office and work through a file of information in preparing for an early Tuesday morning meeting with a local business man.
When everything that needed to be done was done I locked up the office and headed back toward the house. I know that Pastors are expected to always be able to "rule over their spirit" and never, never have a bad attitude about anything BUT I was battling my own spirit a little but on Monday afternoon. I was internally grumping on God about the way life has been over the last year or so. It's been busier than ever and it's been a difficult time for many of the folks who make up our good church family too. Lots of folks have been hurting at some place connected to life and of course that makes the counseling part of church ministry require a greater demand on one's time too. Anyway, these are some of the complaints I was making to God as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed west on Laurel Road toward home.
Now just down the road from our church there is a residence that provides care for mentally and physically challenged young adults. Just as I passed the residence there was the bus that picks these folks up daily and transports them to places of specialized therapy parked by the road. The bus driver and an aid worker were helping to unload a young lady and her wheelchair from the rear lift door at the back of the bus. It was a chilly Spring day and the young lady had a blanket wrapped around her. Both of her hands were visible out of the blanket and both hands were gnarled and twisted in ways that would prove she had no use of them. As I paused by the bus I noticed as she looked up to the bus driver and gave her the largest smile I've seen on any face in a long time. It was at that moment that the Spirit of God said to me "there but by the grace of God go you or someone you love more than yourself." Now God didn't speak to my ears but He most certainly did to my heart. When God speaks to one's heart it's often even more loud than if He had spoken to your ears. Well needless to say my attitude was adjusted and all through the rest of the day I was praising the Lord of His marvelous works in my life and for His grace that been given to me even though I certainly had not deserved it.
No matter how long the day or how difficult the path of today God's grace is going to carry us all the way through. Proverbs 1:5 says "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning..."
Last Monday I learned a good lesson. I needed to open my eyes and listen with my heart and be a wiser man.