“My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.” Job 14:17

To Bag or Not to Bag

Yesterday while out running errands, my husband and I decided to go to one of the more expensive grocery stores in town. We were tired and it was close to home, he is recovering from surgery and I injured myself at the gym the night before, and they would have people to bag the groceries. At that moment, with all those factors, it would be totally worth the extra money. So we pleasantly talked and joked throughout the store, enjoying each other’s company. Until, we get up to the check stand and I see a woman at the next one bagging her own groceries, to which I immediately got angry and said, “Great, we’re paying way more and we’re still going to have to bag our stuff!”

My husband patted me on the shoulder, not condescendingly but reassuringly, and said, “Wait a minute, relax, there is someone bagging the groceries in our lane.” Of course, I immediately felt sheepish and very un-Christlike. I thanked him for pointing that out and asked him to forgive me for being so negative.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly our attitudes can change when an expectation of ours isn’t met or something happens we don’t think is supposed to? I bet you can guess what happened next…it was our turn in line and the girl who was bagging groceries was gone! I had a choice, I could get angry all over again and stand in line tapping my foot waiting for the checker or someone else to bag the groceries, or I could take a deep breath, put a smile on my face, and bag my own.

With the help of the Holy Spirit that’s what I did, even when the total was over our budget, even though I was still tired and sore. Were my joy and my testimony worth losing over a decision as small as whether to bag or not to bag groceries? Thankfully, this time it wasn’t, and I pray it won’t be next time either.

As we took the groceries out to the car we continued to laugh and talk, a far different ending than if I had continued to throw the tantrum I had started at the beginning of our check stand journey. Would God, and my husband, still have loved me? Absolutely! Would they probably both have been a little disappointed in me? Yep—and rightly so.

“Father God, I’m grateful there was no need for You to seal up my rebellion in a bag (this time), and for the forgiveness You so readily extend. When my next “to bag or not to bag” moment comes up, in whatever area of my life it happens to be, may I put a smile on my face, get over myself, and do what needs to be done. Amen.”