By Nancy Strackany
When I need to get something done, I'd like to say I do it immediately. But if it's hard or intimidating, I sometimes drag my feet. It's not that I don't want to do it or it's not the right thing to do but, OK… I procrastinate.
Over Christmas I had bought a few things for my husband. The store was busy and the clerks were in a flurry of activity. The lady who waited on me had just stepped in to help out her coworkers. I later found out she was new and the her name was Grace. What Grace did, I am sure inadvertently, was to ring my sale up as cash, even though I had swiped my charge card.
Imagine my surprise when I went to return two items and the store clerk insisted I take cash back. He said it was a cash sale and when I questioned whether or not there could have been a mistake since I never pay cash, he said the drawer would have been off. I said I didn't want to get anyone in trouble but that I would check my statement at home, as he counted out my cash refund.
I later found the mistake- there was no charge made that day. Not only had I gotten free merchandise, I also got a refund for some of it. I knew I had to make it right. But it was the weekend, then Monday and Tuesday went by and I was a little less enthusiastic. I was putting it off and like the
good Dad he is, God had to give me a ‘poke’.
I had recently restarted the book, A Woman's Guide To Making Right Choices, by Elizabeth George. The first chapter was about setting priorities:
- Doing the things we have to do.
- Doing those things we have to do, but are harder to do.
I thought, "God, are you talking to me? I want to do this but..." "Talk to the manager," God whispered, "this is the right thing to do and it's going to work out fine."
The last words I read before I went to bed that night were, "please don't choose to be a nothing woman. Read your Bible first thing, then step out into your fresh new day and bear fruit for Jesus and bring glory to your God and Savior!"
So bright and early this fresh new day, I read Matthew 5:16, " Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is heaven." I closed my Bible, got dressed and went to the store.
I asked for the manager and explained the situation. It was complicated, they had to check video records but eventually discovered the error. They charged my card the original amount and thanked me for my honesty. It worked out!
Each time I experience the prompting of the Holy Spirit and do what I feel he is telling me, it builds my faith to step out the next time. Now I have one more experience in my history with God and I truly give him all the glory!