A Test of Faith

I was in line at the customer service counter at WalMart yesterday afternoon. I use the term “customer service” loosely. There were about 16 of us in line and only one lonely, stressed out looking clerk, eyeing the line of impatient customers and growing more and more agitated.

Of course I was in a hurry. The night before, I had gone to WalMart to get a few things. When I got home I realized that my checkout clerk had neglected to give me my cold medicine and pasta sauce. I was a bit peeved. I called the store and they told me they would hold my items and I could come and pick them up. (If it were truly customer service wouldn’t they bring them to you, since it was their fault??? But I digress.)

In line ahead of me was an adorable baby. Blue eyes. Curious. Pacifier. She was adorable until she smiled and the pacifier fell out of her face and bounced across the floor. Her grandmother wasn’t going to stuff that pacifier back into her mouth after being on the floor. . .and the adorable little girl began to wail. One of those interminable, seemingly without breath, skin peeling squalls.

I took a deep breath.

Behind me in line was a young couple with a five year old little boy. They were letting him “drive” the cart. He kept “driving” it into the back of my legs.

I tried not to turn around, lest I say something very un-pastorly.

At that moment my cell phone rang. With absolutely no entertainment but each other, everyone looked at me. It was a text message that read:

“Here is a test of faith: if u love God and ur not Ashamed of Him, send this to ten people and watch what he does 4 u tonight.”

I almost laughed out loud! First of all, I hate getting those kinds of messages. I don’t believe that God is involved in the kind of faith that resembles a gumball machine – insert your coin (pass along some ridiculous email message; pray some prayer designed to make you healthy, wealthy and wise; put enough money into the offering plate to insure your eternal life; ad nauseam) and out comes whatever it is you think you’ve twisted God’s arm into doing for you.

For more than a couple of minutes that text message really got under my skin! I didn’t know who it came from or I might have called him or her up and said, “Ya wanna know what a test of faith really is?? It’s standing in line at WalMart with 16 other people who are driving me crazy and trying not to be impatient and unkind!”

I thought a few more things about grandparents who don’t have a backup pacifier on the ready and young parents who let their children drive carts while we are all standing still. . .but then I had a new thought about faith. The next part of that email said, “if u love God.”

I wasn’t being too loving at the moment.

Someone very wise taught me to challenge myself in just these kinds of situations. “What does God love about the people you are impatient with right now?” That’s a killer question.

It killed my impatience.

God loves that clerk’s diligence. God loves that baby’s innocence and need. God loves that little boy’s energy.

And God loves whoever sent me that text message.