Plenty To Go Around

…”My Grace is sufficient for you”… 2 Corinthians 12:9

I read a story the other day about a young man who sheepishly approached an older gentleman asking for parts to repair his food truck.  He was hesitant to ask because the older gentleman also owned a food truck, and not just any food truck but one of the most popular BBQ food trucks in the area.  The older gentleman asked the young man what kind of food truck he had and as he kicked in the dirt  a little, he hesitantly answered “BBQ, just like you.”  The man laughed, gave the young man the parts he needed and then offered him some advice about how to make his business grow and succeed.  Much to the young mans surprise the guy even gave him one of his famous recipes.  The young man thanked him sincerely and began to walk away.  He made it half way to his car then he turned around and said, “I just have to know why you did it?  I’m the competition and you just did so much to help me and I gotta know why?”  With a big smile the older man told him that he served a Mighty God who had more than plenty of graces and blessings to go around.  He went on to explain that one of the greatest ailments in our world today is greedy competition.  We forget our mission on earth is to help each other…help them with their health, their success, their family, their happiness and ultimately to help them get to heaven.  With a wink, he said I can’t possibly feed everyone who wants to eat good BBQ myself so I’m helpin you take care of God’s hungry children too.  He asked him if he knew his friend Jesus because getting to know him is the best help imaginable.  He’s the one who makes sure graces and blessings never run dry and there is never a moments competition for them.

If we stop and think about all the silly things in a day we make comparisons about and all the minutes we spend evaluating and processing it seems pretty ridiculous.  Maybe it’s human nature to wonder how we stack up in the eyes of our kids, our parents, our friends or our neighbors but the older gentleman in the story is right, God has plenty of grace and blessing to go around whether we’re the best or the 32nd best at something.  God isn’t gonna love me more and give me more grace if my kids are the best behaved in church or get the top grades in school.  Social media likes and shares don’t bestow more grace in my day.  God could care less if my hair is cute, my lawn is spiffy, my thighs are slim or my cinnamon rolls are blue ribbon quality and always delivered thoughtfully to a neighbor in need.  I think some days he up there slathering us with grace just because we got out of bed, fed the kids and threw up our hair with a bread twisty!  We don’t have to be the best anything but we are supposed to help someone work toward their best.  We’re supposed to lift each other up not be rivals.  

I had a mom tell me once that she always pulled into the morning drop off lane at school with hair, makeup and a great shirt and it seemed to make her one of the “fancy moms”.  What the others didn’t know was that most mornings she was wearing sweats, pj pants, running shorts and occasionally just her underwear with her long fancy shirts, blazers and sweaters.  She admitted playing the game for months and months until one day her son tripped and fell and smashed his science project.  As he lay crying on the sidewalk she instinctively jumped out of her SUV and ran to comfort him wearing her fancy top and a pair of her husbands boxers.  She said it was one of the moms who had pj pants and a bread twisty hair tie who ran to her aid and gave her a trench coat and a hand with her sons project.  She admitted through tears, that was the day she learned what kind of woman she wanted to be…the kind that helped others rather than competing with them…the kind who wasn’t afraid to look like life was hard some days and just showing up was worthy of blessings and grace.

Discipleship is tough work folks and it’s best done with help.  Jesus started with twelve but that was the only time there was a limited number!  Let’s help each other do the important work of spreading the word and love of Christ…we’re not fighting for “disciple of the year” and God will give us all the grace we need to grow in holiness but I think he might give extra on the days  we help another along on their journey to him rather than trying to shove them out of the way to get his attention.

A Seed To Plant:  Where do you struggle with comparison?  Take that to prayer and ask God to help you swap that for a spirit of peace and glimpse at yourself through his eyes.  Then begin each day asking him to point out anyone who might need your help this day.​

Blessings on your day!