Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: GENEROUS (10/31/19)
-
TITLE: The Rewards of a Single Act of Obedience | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Staples
11/07/19 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
My husband, Bob, and I were talking about obeying that still small voice. We were reminded of a time when he did listen, and the blessings that followed.
On Bob’s way to work one day, he stopped by McDonalds for a coffee. Some woman, in an old battered car, made a left turn right in front of him, forcing him to slam on his brakes.
He pulled up into the parking space beside her, thought about telling her she needed to pay a little more attention on the road. But as he watched her get out of her car he felt a wave of sympathy for her instead and jumped out and held the door open for her.
He stepped into line behind her and felt prompted to pay for her breakfast.
When it was her time to order, she began, “I’ll take ten egg, cheese, and sausage biscuits, five breakfast burrito’s..."
Good grief! Maybe he’d imagined the prompting. No, he thought, regardless of the cost, his gut told him he was meant to pick up the tab, and he did.
The woman was so overwhelmed she started crying. She shared with him that Her mother was dying and a slew of family members had shown up for breakfast. They were down to their last twenty dollars. He couldn’t possibly know how much his generosity meant to her.
Bob asked if she would mind if he prayed with her. Right there and then!!! In the midst of a throng of customers in line to order.
By the end of the prayer, Bob had tears in his eyes, too. They hugged goodbye and Bob drove to work filled with joy, so thankful he’d obeyed that still, small voice.
When he arrived at work, every employee’s card had been placed in a large bowl. They were going to pull out one card and give that person five hundred dollars. Whose card do you suppose they pulled out?
As Bob relayed the story to me, he wanted me to understand that the deepest joy came from the giving, the blessing of obedience. Winning the money was just icing on the cake.
How often have we missed out on the joy of obedience because it’s out of our comfort zone or it's not convenient?
How often have we passed up a chance to show a watching world that we believe we are here to make a difference. We won’t know until we’ve entered into eternity how many lives we’ve touched with a single act of obedience.
"Only one life will soon be past only what’s done for Christ will last."
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
The first paragraph was a little confusing to me. I had to read it a couple time to understand what you were saying. I think the rest of the story was well written. Thanks for sharing!
One little suggestion... No need for three explanation points, really. I know we often use multiple ones in casual writing, but in formal writing, they should really be reserved for dialogue only, and if you do use them outside of dialogue, only use one.
Even if this was a true story, I think I'd like to see a reword/second version of this with a bit of a twist ending... "Guess who won the money? No, not Bob. But it didn't matter, because given was the greatest gift of all." Or something like that. I think it would be interesting to see people's reactions to the different endings. :)
Anyway, great job telling the story here.