Life-Lessons from the Bank's Drive Through

 A few days ago, I was mean to a bank teller.  But, it was because...you know what?  There is no excuse.  I can't try to justify ever being mean to others.  That poor young woman was just doing her job, and because of my pride, I reacted in a way that was very shameful.  

I immediately felt bad, but my pride, again, got on the way and I just drove away, without uttering any apologies.  

That incident has been in my mind ever since.  I have been trying to come to terms with it...but I have not been able to.  Perhaps, I should not process it...as it would be helpful for me to keep it fresh in my heart forever so I never do that again.  However, I usually need to express my feelings one way or the other in order to learn from my experiences.  I don't really want to justify my actions.  I just want to verbalize the event so I understand what's going on in my brain.

Today, as I was doing some errands, I heard a song on the radio that I had not yet heard.  It's called "A Little Less Like Me" by Zach Williams.  From the moment the DJ announced the song's title, something clicked inside of me.  I knew that was a song I needed to hear.  The chorus says it all:

A little more like mercy' a little more like grace
A little more like kindness' goodness, love, and faith
A little more like patience' a little more like peace
A little more like Jesus, a little less like me.

I don't know what to say.  I read the words and I want to cry.  It is exactly how I feel.  This is exactly what I have been wanting to say since that day.  I have felt horrible.  I have felt like a failure.  But I know I can't dwell on the guilt.  So, what I need to do is to notice.  I have to think back...and reflect on that moment by asking myself this question:  Would the lesson have been clear if I had not made the mistake?  Being prideful and unkind are a couple of my biggest struggles.  This is a lesson I MUST learn.  The Holy Spirit has been hard at work in me forever to get me to the other side of these strongholds of sin.  Would I be meditating on any of this, had I not fallen that day?  Had the truth of me needing to be more like Jesus and less like me been so loud and clear?

I'd like to think, yes!  But, like I tell my students all the time, if we don't make mistakes, we don't learn.

You know how we are supposed to give thanks for everything and in any situation?  I am grateful that the Holy Spirit has shown great mercy to me, by allowing me to learn from my mistake.  I am grateful that I have been reminded of my need to display the fruits of the Spirit.  I am grateful that I have been shown, in a way that is vivid and real, that I must become more like Jesus, and leave my old ways behind.  I am grateful that My Redeemer Lives, and that once again, He has been Faithful to me.

Let's now hope that next time I'm at my bank's drive through I keep all these lessons in mind.  Maybe, in God's mercy, He'll arrange it so Zach Williams' song would be playing on the radio that day too.