Bagging My Respectable Sins

I've been preparing this week to teach the first Women's Study class on the book Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, by Jerry Bridges. In doing so, I am reminded of the many "subtle" sins that we become so accustomed to in our own lives that we don't even realize we are committing them. Hopefully that will change for all of us as we study the book. It has for me, already.

Recently I was in a line at the grocery store buying chicken for the local food pantry. (See post on "Cluck Cluck") The line was not moving very quickly, and so I glanced over to see what the problem was, and I spotted the culprit. It was the bag boy. He was v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y moving the items into bags. I was really amazed at the speed with which he was (not) working. I became immediately impatient, wondering if someone in management would see him and tell him to increase his pace. Then I remembered the lesson which I had just learned from the book. Right then and there I battled my own sin and instead of thinking "I can't believe how slowly HE is working," tried to change to "God must have his purpose for slowing ME down today." It was not easy for me to shift gears like that. Finally, it was my turn, my chickens were slowly bagged, and I was out the door.

The reward for my small moment of obedience? As soon as I left the store, I ran into a lovely friend in the parking lot, and we proceeded to talk for 15 minutes or so. Had I not been in the line with the slow worker, I would have missed the opportunity to speak to this good woman.

I wonder how many times we miss out on experiences such as these because we insist on our own timing, instead of God's?