h, was I ever embarrassed!
For a split second, a Chick-fil-A employee and I played tug-of-war over a bright red drink carrier.
You see, except for church, I don't get out much anymore. I haven't been to a grocery store in several years, and I can't remember the last time I wandered through a department store.
Truth be told, I actually love being at home, so that's not a complaint.
But the other night, on the way home from the hospital, I stopped to pick up something for my son and me to eat.
When the sweet young Chick-fil-A employee brought out our food and drinks, I thought, "Well, things are certainly coming up in the world!"
Gone were the flimsy cardboard drink holders I remembered from years ago. Instead, she was carrying my drinks in a sturdy, bright red plastic carrier.
As you can see from the picture, I reached for the whole thing.
But she confidently pulled it back toward herself.
Maybe she had been trained for just such an incident.
After she walked away, I had to laugh out loud at my crazy, almost homebound self.
Then the irony of it all struck me.
For a moment, I thought the carrier came with the drinks.
How often do I do the same thing with God's gifts?
How often do I grasp for things God has temporarily placed in my hands and begin to think they belong to me?
My time.
My possessions.
My abilities.
Even the people I love.
Everything I have is a gift from Him, entrusted to me for a season.
The moment I start believing it is mine by right, I have forgotten that I am a steward, not an owner.
Sometimes we reach for something that seems perfectly reasonable.
It even looks good.
Useful.
Better than what we've had before.
Yet God gently but firmly says, "That isn't for you."
We may not understand why at the moment, but He sees the larger purpose.
If God pulls something back, it isn't because He is withholding a blessing.
Maybe it is because what we're reaching for was never intended to be ours in the first place.
As I drove away laughing at myself, I realized that the little red carrier was never mine to begin with. It had simply been placed in my hands for a moment.
Perhaps that is true of far more in my life than I realize.
For a moment, I thought the carrier came with the drinks.
Sometimes I do the same thing with God's gifts.
