When my husband and I were dating, we made a trip to a local market with plans to make dinner together later in the evening. After loading the groceries into the car, Steve reached into his pocket and looked over the pile of change in his hand. “She gave me too much change,” he said. “I'll be back in a minute.”
I was stunned by his honesty. The money he was returning was less than a dollar. If I had been the one to pay the cashier, I'd have smiled at my good fortune and drove away. This incident had sent my head spinning. I had always considered myself an honest person, and yet the thought of walking back into the store for a few pennies was not something I would have even thought about, let alone acted upon.
It's often easy to see the black and white of God's will. Thou shall not murder, thou shall not have an affair, thou shall not steal another man's pick-up, no matter how good you would look driving it. That's the easy stuff, but what about the everyday gray – thou shall not drink beer, use curse words, or pocket the 42-cents the cashier just over paid you?
Knowing right from wrong, or discernment, is a challenge we all face. According to the scriptures, the human heart is deceitful above all else (Jeremiah 17:9). We all have flawed instinct when it comes to making right decisions. Since we can't always trust ourselves to make good choices, we need to look to the one who always makes right decisions, Jesus Christ. God has promised to be our guide and provide us with the wisdom that we seek. James 1:5 reads, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Sounds simple enough. Seeing that there was room for improvement, I asked God for His wisdom.
I found myself more and more captivated by the word of God. There was a time in my life when I felt that the Bible didn't make sense. As I grew in faith, and began to devote time each day to the word of God, I began to recognize some of the gray areas in my life. Psalm 119:130 reads: The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. The word of God began to cast light into my gray corners, and I realized is that there is no gray as far as the Lord is concerned. There is only right and wrong. When we walk closely with God, we really get to know Him. Just as a child is able to predict whether a choice is good or bad in his parents eyes, we too can know what God is expecting of us. This leads to a new sense of responsibility – not a list of dos and don'ts. Instead, the question becomes what can I do today to show the world how wonderful God is? The small choices we make, like returning a handful of change to a cashier, inspire the people around us to question their own behavior and seek God out. How awesome it is to know that the simple choices in life can make such an impact on our neighbors.
Learning to discern right from wrong is a life-long process. Last year, I ordered a pair of beautiful Italian leather shoes to wear to my sister's wedding. For those of you with an eye for footwear, they were delicious! And, I loved them. The hefty price tag weighed on my heart. So, with a sigh, I nestled them in the box and shoved them into the back of the closet, intent on returning them.
The next day, a box arrived at my door. I couldn't believe my eyes. There they were, my shoes' long lost twins. I checked my credit card, to see if I had been charged double. Nothing. This was a test, I was sure of it. I wanted so badly to return the original pair and walk off happily with my freebie. Days went by as I wrestled with vision of those lovely heels under my bridesmaid's gown. Alas, I knew, if I kept them, they would haunt me forever. Not because anyone would ever know that I hadn't paid for the shoes, but because I would know that I had let the Lord down. Jesus gave up His life for me, so there was only one thing to do. I had to give up the shoes.
When I returned the shoes, the clerk at the shoppe was unsure of how to handle the transaction. There was no record of the second shipment at all. That's strange, she'd said. I smiled though, because I knew that there was nothing strange about it at all. God was letting me know that I had made some progress in my quest for discernment. Now, when I look at the bargain-basement pair of shoes I wore to the wedding, I smile to myself. They are a nice little reminder that I am a work in progress.
