Walmart & Believing

Well, emotional Sunday started early yesterday, but with much less intensity.  It was actually kind of interesting the way it unveiled itself throughout the day.  From the moment I walked into the master bath to take a shower, I began to have random thoughts of various humorous incidents that Piper and I experienced together and couldn’t help but giggle a little and tear up at the same time!  And that’s the way it seemed to roll all day long.  Almost every time I saw something or someone, it reminded me of funny banter we enjoyed or that daring look of hers complete with the quiet smile that said to me “You didn’t think I’d do that did you?”

I think she enjoyed surprising me with different words or actions that seemed to come out of the blue… just as much as I did with her!  One of my favorite things in life from my teenage years on was to make her laugh… and if you knew her, then you knew it wasn’t a difficult thing to accomplish!  So, when I walked into Walmart a few hours later, I couldn’t help but be both enthralled and emotional when I heard the friendly banter between a couple walking in behind me.

The couple looked to be around my age and with the closeness they demonstrated, I imagined that they had to have been married for a long time.  I was about ten feet in front of them so when I got to the side door near the vending machines, I stepped aside and held the door open for them.  They both giggled and looked a little embarrassed as I smiled back at them.  Then the wife joked with me saying, “Oh, we’re just walking so slow today.”  To which I replied, “Hey, it’s Sunday, it’s supposed to be a relaxed day!”

We conversed a little more and then went our own ways into the store.  I hadn’t been shopping on a Sunday for a while and had forgotten how packed the store can get after the church crowd flocks in!  It seemed like there were people and carts all over the place.  At one point in the produce section, I slid my cart in close behind another and walked over to select a few of the very large artichokes the store normally stocks. 

When I turned back around, a Hispanic gentleman walked past me and casually placed a large bag of apples in my cart as he talked to a woman, I supposed was his wife.  I thought the whole incident to be a little funny and I gently tapped the man on his right shoulder and softly said “excuse me”  And as he turned I laughed and told him that he had put his apples in my cart.  Well, he and his wife immediately turned red and started to laugh a little sheepishly and apologize, to which I just continued to smile and told them that it was no problem and that I wanted to make sure that they got their apples… especially since apples are not on my diet.

And it didn’t end there, the friendly conversations seemed to continue throughout almost every aisle I went down.  Like I said, the store was packed and we were all juggling our carts around to get by each other.  But everyone I talked to seemed to be in a jovial mood, and for me it was a very pleasant experience! 

I was thinking today though, that the people I see in the stores now, seem to be a lot more relaxed and friendlier toward me than when I pushed Piper through the store in her wheelchair.  It’s easy to see that people in need tend to make some others very uncomfortable.  This realization got me to thinking about how Piper and I regularly faced unbelief and confusion as the negative symptoms of the Alzheimer’s increased.

My study in Jeremiah 33:3 gave me some hints about why this happens.  In The Message paraphrase this scripture is stated as: “Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”  The word “wondrous” is translated as “mighty” in the King James Version.  According to Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions it is defined as “secrets, mysteries and inaccessible things (with or in our natural understandings.)”  John Gill describes it as “designs such as are difficult of understanding which exceed human belief and which reason cannot comprehend and take in.”

We learned early on that we would have to continually feed our faith through the Word of God (See: Romans 10:17) in order to stand strong and keep up our confession whenever we went out and about… just about everywhere we went.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining here.  Many of the folks that we came across just didn’t understand the faith stand that we were committed to.  They were either not saved or believers who might not have been familiar with all the promises of God.  Most of the reactions were expected… although a few took us by surprise I must admit!

In Jesus’ Great Commission in Mark 16:14-20, He clearly states in verse 17 that “And these signs shall follow them that believe;” (KJV)  As I’ve stated in other posts, the word “believe” is an action word.  It is not something you do once and forget about it.  NO, it is an action that needs to be constantly pursued, built upon and confessed.  So, just because we met folks who might not understand what we were up to, didn’t mean that we weren’t going to stand strong and openly share the results we were believing for… results that were based on the Word of God and not necessarily what medical science declared.

Well, this is getting a little long, so I’d better sign off for now!  I’ll continue my thought next time.  But until then, think about it… What are you actively believing for today?  Is that belief active and strong enough to stand up to the crowds at Walmart who may not have any understanding of what and why you are doing what you’re doing…  people who may not understand the power and love behind God and His Word.  Think about what a blessing you can be to those folks when you share the truth from your heart…

Have a great week ahead, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting my active belief in God’s Word to be a blessing to others… today!”