I was just thinking about ...
USELESS TRIPS
As we pulled
into the dentist’s office, I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, I’ll have
this thing over with. You see, I’ve been suffering from a bad tooth for two
weeks. But the dentist had to find the right one, and “you need to see this
person, first” and “we have to wait on this” and “I can get you in on
… “. You know the shuffle; when you’re really hurting, it seems like an
eternity before anyone can get at the root of the problem. But now it’s all
going to be over with soon. My wife struggled with the baby a bit as I hopped
out of the car and toward the office. (We were running a few minutes late.) I
turned and offered help but she waved me on. “We’re late, go on in!”
I gave the receptionist my name and appointment time as she mulled over
the sheet for that day. “I’m sorry; I don’t seem to see you on the list
for today. Oh here it is, your appointment is tomorrow, not today.
We headed back to the car and fastened the baby in. “Anybody over here
you need to see?” “Nope … you need anything from Sam’s Club while
we’re in town?” “No, not really, well, maybe from Target.” So we headed
over to Target. “I can’t believe we wasted a trip over here with the price
of gas what it is.” (I was just thinking out loud what she was probably
already thinking.) “Yeah, well, maybe we’ll find something we need.” I
certainly hoped so. Or this little excursion-for-nothing would be on the 10
0'clock news.
We were at Target a short time when we noticed our basket had filled
quickly. We found this and that, several things we had been looking for; a
birthday present for a sort-of forgotten birthday, (I’ll talk about that some
other time.) and some folders I would need for an upcoming meeting, and even a
couple of things we needed for the church but hadn’t seen before. When we got
done, I was relieved to hear Kim say, “I guess this wasn’t a wasted trip
after all, you probably wouldn’t have felt like shopping after the dental
work.” And on the way home, we stopped at the florist shop where my sister
works and asked her about some plants and wished her a happy birthday. (No,
that’s not the sort-of forgotten one!)
When I look back at the trip, I realize that it wasn’t a wasted trip.
There was a lot of good that came of it. We both found items we had been looking
for for quite a while; and a few that were opportunities stumbled across. My
mind went to the church, as it often does. “How many times,” I asked myself,
“have I attended services and thought them to be a waste of time?” “And
then just a short time later, has that ‘wasted trip’ to the church become a
great source of discovery toward the divine?” “How many others,” I
pondered, “do the same?” They muddle into worship Sunday, expecting to find
nothing but routine and boredom. Maybe that’s what they find most of the time,
but there are also those instances when God has a surprise package for them. Out
of the blue, they find themselves face to face with a heavenly blessing that
leaves them speechless.
Of course, we’re not supposed to go to church to get a weekly “fix” to keep us on cloud 9 for the rest of the week. (Although some feel that’s what worship is for!) Worship is just doing what’s right; presenting ourselves before God to give thanks and to offer praise. But hey, if God’s got a gift waiting for us occasionally, that gives us more reason to approach God with awe, reverence and … expectation. So when you go to church next week, try this:
1) go with the thought that God’s already there
2) His hands are behind his back
3)
there’s a smile on his face and
4)
He’s saying, “Pick a hand!”
Come
by anytime, I’ll be here and so will God.
Pastor
Dennis