The Fresh Air of Possibilities

Posted on Feb 27, 2017 Topic : Weekly Devotionals

How little people know who think

that holiness is dull. When one meets

the real thing…it is irresistible.

- C.S. Lewis

I’m a quadriplegic, yet I can drive a van. (It doesn’t have a steering wheel. My hand is secured to a big joy stick so I can steer, accelerate, and brake…but wait, that’s another story.) That I drive should tell you I enjoy being independent. If there’s something I can do, I will. Even if it means doing the drive-through at Burger King by myself.

Remember, my hands don’t work. That’s why last week when I cruised into the drive-through lane to order hamburgers and cokes, I prayed. Not so much for me, but for the fellows at the pick-up window. Lord, give them patience...and give me a smile. Then I moved up to the intercom to give my order.

When I had finished explaining “no cheese” and“extra mustard packets,” I told the voice on the other end of the intercom that I was disabled. “But don’t worry,” I said, leaning toward the big black box, “I’ll explain at the delivery window what to do.” There was a pause. Then “Okay…no problem.”

I pulled up to the delivery window and smiled. Sticking my arm out the window, I asked the cashier fellow to take the ten-dollar bill that was folded in my arm splint. That was a cinch. While he fished for my change, I asked him to place it in the paper bag along with the hamburgers. At that point, the server who was bagging my order looked over his shoulder. Both boys, confused, gave each other a look that said, Do you know what she’s talking about? ‘Cause I don’t! I smiled and slowly repeated my instructions.

Both servers got the message. They even wrapped the change in a napkin before they dropped it into the bag with the food. Then they handed me my order, but I had to ask, “Could you please lean out of your window and wedge the bag right here between me and the van door?” Both boys looked at each other again. “I can’t reach for the bag. Remember? I can’t use my hands.”

“Oh, yeah,” they said, laughing as they proceeded to hang halfway out the pick-up window in order to lodge the package between my wheelchair and the door “Are you set? Are you okay?” they asked with genuine sincerity. “Great job,” I assured them. “God bless you guys!” They slapped the side of my van as I drove off. I glanced in my rearview mirror—they were waving goodbye. Thanks, Lord, for answering prayer. That could have been an awkward situation for those two boys, but it turned out to be fun!

This is the daily stuff of my life. It always involves more than simply picking up hamburgers and cokes, or clothes from the dry cleaners. It involves a chance to make God real to people. A chance for them to serve, to feel good about themselves, to experience a new way of doing things. It’s a chance to break the mold and accomplish a task in a different manner—an opportunity to throw a hand grenade into the ordinary way of living and, in so doing, take people by surprise. (Those fellows at Burger King learned a lot about flexibility and adaptability, as well as customer satisfaction.)

We all have expectations. We want people to conform and comply, fall in line and follow suit. “Don’t rock the boat.” That’s our motto. “Don’t do things differently. Don’t create a scene, and don’t cause a ruckus.” Yet problems are often God’s way of grabbing a lever in order to pry us out of our ruts. And when you rise up out of a rut, you end up enjoying the fresh air of possibilities, the new breeze of challenge and change. Your faith finds feet. Your witness begins to work. You are “brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

Today, take a complicated situation and—with time, patience, and a smile—turn it into something positive…for you and for others.