Patterns
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Romans 12:2
I had an unexpected lesson from God this morning. The location of today’s encounter came at the Kia dealership. A few months back we discovered the rear seatbelt in our 3rdrow had separated from the frame. A bolt was not tightened properly and had to be reinstalled. The shop had to order the part so this morning I returned to get the seatbelt fixed.
I have a dislike for sitting in waiting rooms in general but especially going to autoshops. My dad was a mechanic and I’ve always felt they treated women differently. Not that I’m a huge expert in car repair but I feel like I know more than most. I started off frustrated because I was told I the repair would be free and take 30 minutes. Then 10 minutes later I was updated that it would cost me $175 and take 90 minutes. I called Luke to complain a bit. I may have also mentioned in a loud voice, you know—the tone that begs to be eavesdropped on but has the guise of a private conversation, that this dealership was not going to get my business again when I am ready to buy my next car. I’ll admit it, I was downright frustrated. Luckily, I had my knitting and a podcast so if I had to wait longer at least I had something to occupy myself.
Then she walked in. A woman in her 70’s with a drop-kick dog. I love dogs but dogs that yap and fit in your purse aren’t my favorite, hence why I sarcastically think they should be punted. She had one of those retractable leashes so your dog can meander 50 yards from you. Is this really a leash? So of course, the dog jumps in my lap, messing up my knitting and making my already aggravated mood more pronounced. I’m not proud but I shoved that dog off me. What if I was allergic for crying out loud! Do people have no respect? Then she wants the TV on. There goes my ability to listen to my podcast (on loving others ironically, tell me God does not have a sense of humor).
She turns and looks at me and ask, “What are you knitting.” I guess she didn’t pick up on the I’ve had a bad morning, I don’t want to talk to you, your very presence annoys mevibes I was sending out. I stop and really look at her. I look in her eyes. She was lonely. Two days ago, I arrived back from a mission trip and wrote a very poignant post about the living water we have inside and how we need to be on mission everywhere. I had already forgotten.
You see I had fallen quickly back into the pattern of this world. The way of living where my default is to seek a life that is hassle free. Where my comfort and preferences are served up on a silver platter. Where I don’t experience set-backs or bad news. Where life is all about me, the stuff I want and the way I expect it to turn out. That’s why time with God each day is essential to getting out of the world’s mold and having a new mindset. When we don’t do it, we rob ourselves of living as a citizen in our new kingdom. The one where Jesus rules and the Spirit guides and we go about our day with the love of the Father surrounding us. Where we can see hassles as opportunities.
In that moment God set me at a crossroads. The extra hour I had to wait was time He had me on assignment to encounter this woman. I could approach this mission with bitterness or I could open my heart up to the humanity around me. I told her about what I was making and turns out she was a knitter too but hadn’t practiced her craft in a long time. I told her about the charity I was knitting for. She said she was inspired to start knitting again. She asked where she could get this pattern. I gave her mine.
I realized I don’t need the pattern anymore. I have it in my knitting bag just in case I need to refer to it, but haven’t needed it. It made me think of the other things I could do automatically. The pizza dough I make each week without the recipie, songs I can sing without lyrics, bible verses that the Spirit brings to mind in my hour of need.
I wish I was a person that always saw people not problems and chose to love first before needing the reminder. I wish that was my default pattern, the way I responded without thinking, but honestly, I’m in process. I don’t choose to love first and need the check engine light from God to get me into the dealership so He can take things apart. Despite my unregenerate ways, I have hope that I will progressively become more like Jesus because He is never done working on me. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
Not all the trials in life are big things. This verse mentions that there are various kind of trials. I’ve always thought this verse helpful in the big things in life, when you or someone you know is going through something major: you find out you have cancer, your spouse leaves you, you lose your job…but it’s also about the little aggravations we go through. God wastes nothing. Even these are ways to train me up in godliness.
Humbled, I apologized to the staff in the office when I checked out. In the end it took less time (and money, yah!) then they had quoted me. They even washed my car when I didn’t ask them to. The whole time I was cursing them, they were blessing me; bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them (Romans 12:14).
So today, be on the lookout for when you are fitting into the world’s mold and take God’s opportunities for you to bust out. Look past the little annoyances and instead consider them a chance to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn something, even if you find yourself in a room with stale coffee and old magazines. You just might walk away with a renewed mind and new perspective.
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