A Humbling Reality

Each morning as soon as I open my eyes, I thank God and read my morning scripture. Now, I say that so casually, but some mornings its everything but casual. At times I'm tired, groggy, or late for work after hitting the snooze button on my alarm one too many times. However, I made a commitment to devote my very first thoughts in the morning to thanking God, inviting the Holy Spirit of Jesus into my day, and reading scripture. Why? Because I tend to get overwhelmed by the thoughts of what lies ahead. Thoughts like acceptance, restoration, relationships, work responsibilities, bills, career progression, workout routines, home ownership, and building up my savings will set a certain tone for my day before I even get started. While I don't see anything wrong with setting a tone, I do believe that my foundation and perception of reality must be grounded in a Godfearing relationship, beyond what I can see or maybe even understand. My mother often says, "seek and expect God first." This week I was reminded that I am always a work in progress.

On this particular morning, I read Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

(For the purpose of this writing and to share my thoughts with you, I will not use names or specifics.)

After my reading I went on about my day. While picking up a few groceries I ran into a friend out shopping with her husband and six-year-old son. While greeting each other, she reached for a grocery cart the same time as another shopper. The woman became extremely upset, cussing, as my friend immediately tried to apologize. The woman was not open to hearing her apology. She eventually walked away, once my friend's husband and her son walked towards us. While neither of us felt threatened in this situation, it was my friend's immediate reaction that had me in awe. Her response to this woman was calm, loving, controlled, and gentle. She even grabbed another cart, presenting them both as a peace offering. While a part of me remained relaxed and controlled, the other side of me was frustrated.

None of us spoke of it again as we went on grocery shopping, laughing and talking. By the time we got back to our cars, it wasn't even a thought...until the next morning when my eyes glanced over my morning scripture from the day before. I felt a little sad, like I don't know if I could ever respond to a situation like that with so much peace, patience, and gentleness in my voice. Of course, I would not resort to violence. I may even apologize for any unintentional harm I caused, but my tone of voice would not reflect my actions. It may be slightly frustrated that we are even having this conversation over one empty grocery cart while so many others are waiting to be used. I may have even left and gone to another store, hoping for a better experience. But my friend was unprovoked, and unbothered. I wondered, how do I become that? I invite the Holy Spirit in as well, where was my "Last Dragon" powers? (Sorry, old childhood movie. If you've seen it, then you may remember how the martial artist Leon believed in the power of the glow. However, when the neighborhood bully called Sho'nuff was beating Leon to a pulp, suddenly the power of the glow began radiating through the hands of his nemesis. In that moment Leon looks at his own hands like, where is my glow?) It eventually comes and Leon saves the day, but real life is not a movie. I wondered am I doing something wrong that my tone is different? Do I not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit with me?

Then I realized that I do. Jesus was with us as my friend responded to the woman. Jesus is with me through my thoughts of frustration, reminding me to do good and respond with loving acts, even when I don't feel like it. Jesus is constantly teaching, protecting, loving, and guiding me, especially on those days when I feel like my thoughts over power my response. He reminds me that I am not my friend, and I too am learning how to walk and respond to others with the fruits of the spirit like love, and gentleness. Thank God for his teachings and forgiveness as I know that I am and will always be a work in progress.

At the end of the day, we don't know what someone else is dealing with or what mountain they are struggling to climb. The grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God that I pray for is what I must be willing to give. In addition, all we can do is our absolute best, while praying for others and asking God to cover, guide and protect us every single second of every day-listening to his guidance along the way.

Today I thank God for you all and for allowing me to meditate on his word.

Until next time,

Lati

#Godislove#Pre-orderNormalisDifferent#LiveYourNormal

References

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

• The Last Dragon (1985) - IMDb

• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.The Last Dragon (sometimes listed as Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon) is a 1985 American martial arts comedy film produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz.[4] The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, Christopher Murney, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Faith Prince. Choreography was created by Lester Wilson and Lawrence Leritz.

• The Last Dragon was released in theatres by TriStar Pictures on March 22, 1985. The film was a financial success despite a mixed reception by critics, and is considered a cult classic.