Does Your Generosity And Obedience Have Limits?

August 10, 2013 4 Comments

I’m about to share an embarrassing story but one I think most everyone reading this post can relate to.  On Friday evening I was returning home from The Global Leadership Summit and stopped at a local restaurant to have some quick dinner.
As I was going through the line to order my meal, an Air Force serviceman was behind me in line.  He was a pleasant man and dressed in full military fatigues.
It was then I remembered the words of Gen. Colin Powell uttered the prior day at The Summit.  He said, “Soldiers want to talk about their experience.  They’re not looking for sympathy.  They want their service recognized and respected.”  It was then I felt God telling me to buy his dinner.
The previous two weeks have been very expensive and I’m anxiously awaiting the 15th for my next pay date.  There have been school supplies and uniform purchases along with a vacation and some unexpected medical expenses.  But I was OK with that because I could easily handle at $10-15 meal, right?
This was one of our troops.  He would feel respected and I would feel good about myself because I obeyed God and performed a good deed.  It was then I learned a lot about myself and did not like what I discovered.
As I was about to tell the cashier to put his meal on my ticket, I heard the serviceman say, “I would like a family pack for 5.”  I thought, “Lord, was that really you?  I mean, this is not going to be $10-15.”  I could have then walked away and no one would ever know I was supposed to buy that meal.  But God impressed on me a second time, “Yes, I want you to buy the meal.”
It was then I heard the serviceman say, “And I would also like a large slab of ribs.”  It was then a battle in my soul began to wage as I thought, “You have got to be kidding me!”  But I felt God once again say very clearly, “Brian, buy his family their meal.  Whatever you are sacrificing is not even a drop in the bucket compared to what they have sacrificed for thousands of families like yours.  Brian, you also have no idea how much I’m going to bless you back for doing this.”
I literally walked back and forth from the drink fountain to the cashier’s counter several times wrestling with my decision.  And then I heard the manager add, “And we will put the deserts on there a la carte.”
Enough was enough.  At this point I just went ahead and purchased the serviceman’s meal.  The two-minute battle in my heart was now settled regardless of the cost.  I then expressed my sincerest appreciation to the gentleman for his service and asked him to pass my heartfelt thanks along to his family.  He smiled from ear-to-ear, shook my hand, and said a HUGE “Thank You”.
I have several thoughts from this 2-minute moment in my life:

• After all these years and God’s faithfulness in my life, why was extravagant generosity not a reflex action for me?  Why did I struggle so much with the decision?  I should be better than this.
• I’m not even going to miss this that money a week from now.
• Proactively blessing our troops whether in restaurants, airports, or any other environment is the right thing to do.
• What the world sees in our outward behavior and what is happening inside our hearts and minds are often two completely different things.    The world saw a “nice guy” who bought a serviceman’s family a meal.  In reality, I was a guy struggling with selfishness and practicing behaviors which should be reflex actions.
• I can’t thank God enough for His grace.  I have got such a long way to go to become the type of person I truly want to be.

Each of us receives whispers from God on a regular basis.  If you’re like me, sometimes your biblical knowledge outpaces your personal obedience.  I hope next time God whispers something to me, my response will be much more immediate, much more generous, and a lot less selfish.
Can you relate to this story?  Of course you can.  We’ve all been there.