Get Out of My Way!

How many times a day do I find myself thinking this or even worse, saying it?

I say it to the car in front of me going 10 miles under the speed limit. I think it when the person before me in the grocery store decides to pay in coupons and change. Somehow everyone else should know that this is my world and they are in my way.

I am always in a rush. I don't like to waste time, especially because when I get out of the house I am always "on the clock." I am either on the countdown until I have to pick up the girls or if I have the girls I am counting the minutes until the meltdowns begin. There is never enough time in the day, and definitely never enough time out of the house.

In my heart I understand how God views us as humans, He loves all of us and every part of us. He is all about people. He created us so that He could have a relationship with us. So what am I saying to Him when I treat His creation this way? God is all about people and I have always thought that I truly understood that and took it to heart. But my head and my heart seem to be in different places.

I have come to the realization that I love people only when I chose to. I am sadly more likely to see people as obstacles than opportunities. I am always on a mission and in a hurry, not taking time to enjoy God's most amazing creations- His people. Each person is filled with unimaginable complexities. They all have hopes, dreams and desires, but all are also living with the weight of other's expectations, dealing with pride, and hiding their insecurities. If we look at it that way, we are all the same. In our rush to get them out of our way, we ignore that they are more than just a human shell but an eternal being.

Sometimes it is REALLY hard to believe that we are all made in the image of Christ and that each of us was individually handcrafted by God, but it's true. I know there are those people in our life that we think surely those scriptures do not apply to them, but they do. It is amazing to me to realize that God sees each of us the same and that I need to fix my eyes and my heart to be in line with His.

There are times when I feel that I am momentarily living life like God intended. It was one of those good days as I walked through Target recently and stopped and had a conversation with the barista at Starbucks. I enjoyed our brief interaction so much that later in the day I recalled her sweet spirit and smile and spent a few minutes praying for her. I knew God had great things in store for her and was excited to be able to spend those moments asking Him to work in her life. As I ended my short prayer, I knew that this was how God intended for me to live. What if that was how I chose to spend my days? What if I chose to pray for those I came in contact with instead of trying to push them out of the way? 

Honestly this all comes down to a heart issue. I value my life, my time and my inconveniences as more important than those around me. God is working on me, on my heart, my pride and my eyes. I want to see people as He does. I want to see the opportunities He has given me over the obstacles I have created.