What are they waiting for?

I went to Walmart today. It is really one of my least favorite places to go, but the prices are best on so many items, therefore I find myself there on a regular basis. Today's visit was a little different. After doing a little research, and keeping up with the current news, I decided to return a jar of Jiffy peanut butter that I had gotten recently. It was unopened, but with all the recalls on peanut butter products these days, I decided not to take a chance.

As I explained this to the Customer Service rep (who, by the way, had no idea what I was talking about ... apparently doesn't spend much time researching current events), she scowled and told me that she wasn't worried. She said that if it was her time to die, it was her time to die, and that God had that under control. It was my turn to look at her like she was from another planet. And since, I've found myself so sad for people who are waiting for God to do something ... just waiting.

I've come to the point of believing that waiting for God to take action flies in the face of his will. You see, I think that he has already acted. He created me. He saved me when all was lost. He gave me all the instruction I need to live a life that is pleasing to him through scripture ... the Bible. And he gave me the Holy Spirit to teach me and help me understand his instruction. What more do I need? How could I be so vain as to expect more? He's already given me all I need. The rest is up to me.

Yes, if today is my day to die, it is my day. But what if "my day" is detemined not by some mystical twist orchestrated by God, but is instead determined by my own inability to use the resources God has given me to be WISE! What if my son's "day" is determined by my own ineptitude ... my own unwillingness to take hold of the wisdom God promises me and to use it for good in this life. No, I'm not God. I am God's creation and his daughter, and I choose to live as such.

So, I'll return potentially contaminated peanut butter, and I will hold my son's hand when we cross the street. I'll feed my family well, and spend my time teaching my sons everything I can even though God has not directed us through some mystical fashion to teach/learn those things. Why? Because I can. Because I'm empowered by the freedom of knowing what God expects of me. Because it is foolishness, not wisdom, that would lead me to sit back and wait.