The Lord is righteous in everything He does; He is filled with kindness.” Psalm 145:17
I almost missed it. A long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away I wrote a Grits story about my ongoing “concern” with sticking a contact in my eye. If you remember, and I realize you probably don’t, I only wear one contact and it makes it possible for me to read without having to wear readers. It’s quite amazing how the brain somehow makes it work. Anyway, the only problem is that I just don’t do very well sticking my finger in or close to my eye. It took me just about a year to figure out how to do it and I still have some anxiety each time I do it. I’ve gotten better…but.
Well, this morning was one of those “buts.” I have a ritual that I go through each and every morning to prepare for sticking this thing in my eye. I put on my readers and get the juice that I use to wet the contact and my fingers. The contacts come in a stick of five and I always, and I mean always, break a contact off the left side. Don’t ask me why. This morning, I got the juice, glasses and contact all set up for the big event. I opened the contact, wet my fingers, put the contact on my finger and prepared for sticking it in. It went south.
As I put it in I could tell something was wrong and the something was wherever the contact was, it wasn’t where it should have been. That could only mean it was lost somewhere—either in my eye or on the sink. Well, it wasn’t on the sink which meant—I was in deep weeds. So, I got angry. I’m not proud of it but I did. I was running late and didn’t have time to worry about this catastrophe. My eye doctor had retired so she couldn’t rescue me and as hard as Judy and I had tried in times past…our success rate was pretty low. So I just told God, out loud, that I didn’t have time for this. I threw the contact holder thing in the trash and got in the shower…still mad.
Well, I have this test I do to see if my contact is in or out. When I tried to see at the sink, it obviously was not in the right place in my eye. So, I tried again in the shower and…I could see. I looked again and again, very obviously the contact had found its way home to the center of my eye. Now it wasn’t totally happy, but it was where it belonged. After my shower, I went ahead and got the contact out, yay and put in a fresh one that went in perfectly. I was amazed and very grateful. There is no doubt that my Dearest Daddy had once again acted on my behalf.
I guess, in the loosest of terms you could say that my cry of anger and anguish was a prayer, “God, I don’t need this right now.” And in His grace, He agreed. There might be a time when it would have stayed lost but today, He acted on my behalf and took care of the problem. You probably ought to know the kind of contact I wear is changed daily and it is very flimsy and when it gets lost—it stays lost. I cannot think of one time when it found its own way home…that is…except today.
What He did was just so kind. His Word says, “The Lord is righteous in everything He does; He is filled with kindness.” All I can say is, “Amen.” As I was driving home for lunch, I decided that I hadn’t celebrated the faithfulness of my Dearest Daddy in a big enough way. This was a big deal. I needed to pause and thank Him again. It was the right thing to do.
I couldn’t think of a better way to say thank you than to write about it right here…right now. As I stare at my computer screen, and it is crystal clear, I am reminded that I serve a God who can handle the big things and the not so big things. I am reminded that I serve a God that hears even a prayer sputtered and uttered in frustration and, yes, anger. I serve a God who cares enough to whisper a sweet, short answer to those prayers, “Don’t worry son, I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 