Steve Coleman

BY STEVE COLEMAN

On the way home from church one Sunday morning, a husband asked his wife how her Sunday school class had gone that day. She taught a class of married ladies each week and, in answering his question, she confessed to him that she used him in an illustration during the lesson, hoping he wouldn’t mind.

“So, what did you tell them?” he asked. “Well, Joe, I told them every morning, you get up early while I’m still sleeping, and open the top drawer of the dresser to get underclothes for the day, and then go into the bathroom to get ready for work. When I get up, the first thing I do every morning is close the drawer. I told the class it used to bother me that you never closed that top drawer. I would stew on it, sometimes all morning, but I never said anything to you about it. Finally, I decided that it was such a small thing that I really needed to just let it go. Once I stopped letting it bother me, I never minded closing that big dresser drawer in the morning. My point to the ladies in the class was that, sometimes, we just need to let the little things go.”

Joe thought for a moment, and then he said, “I don’t mind that you shared that with the class. I do wish you had mentioned that before, so I could have told you why I never close the drawer. About 30 years ago, when we first got that dresser, I got up in the morning, opened the drawer, retrieved my underclothes, and closed the dresser. That big drawer made such a loud noise, that it woke you up. So, ever since then, I’ve not closed that drawer because I didn’t want to wake you.”

What Joe’s wife saw as an irritant in his morning routine, was actually a beautiful act of compassion toward her. It was something he did every day, so that she could sleep just a little bit longer.

We were all created by God to glorify him and to have a relationship with him. But, in Genesis 2:18, we also see that we were created for each other. “It is not good for man to be alone.” Take a moment today to look at the people God has placed in your life, and be careful not to judge or assess motives too quickly. What may look like irritants to you, might be acts of love by others. Take a moment today to serve, with joy, the people God has placed in your life.

Steve Coleman is an associate pastor and worship pastor at Wildwood Baptist Church in Acworth.

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