“You’ll regret it!” I wanted to shout to the pregnant lady I saw in Wal Mart as she happily added sweet little pink baby clothes to her shopping cart.
“They’re more trouble than they’re worth!” I felt like warning the young couple cooing over their newborn in the line in front of me at the grocery store.
Or maybe I just wanted to hide. My sweet daughter had involved herself in a shoplifting scheme the day before, and my broken heart didn’t know what to do with me. I felt indignant about her consequences—getting kicked off the varsity volleyball team a week before the big tournament and serving a one-week suspension from school. After all, she hadn’t been arrested by the police—her friend had.
But deep down, I knew the consequences would teach her a lesson and I struggled to figure out how to show compassion for her yet support the school’s decision. I also wondered if my indignation at the consequences was more about me and less about her. I couldn’t tell if MY pride had received a smack on the behind causing me to burst into tears unexpectedly and want to hide out in our house, or if the consequences really were too harsh for the crime.
Nevertheless, I hid and cried in all my spare time for a good two days. I didn’t want to go to church—where everyone would know about my daughter’s misdeed. I didn’t want to go to work—since I taught at the same school that had suspended her and kicked her off the team.
But God didn’t let me hide alone. He sent friends to call me up and tell me about their youthful indiscretions. Their words of encouragement served as a balm to my battered soul. Life got easier.
I experienced grace in a big way and realized for the first time that even though I lived in a fishbowl (how we jokingly refer to the lives of those who work for a church entity), the people that mattered hadn’t judged my daughter or my husband and me. They understood. They cared. They reached out.
And that’s the kind of Christian I want to be. The one who becomes a fool for Christ—willing to share my life with others so that they won’t feel alone. Ready to reach out to others who want to hide. After all, Christ did the same for us. He took our shame so that we have none. Each hurting person God places in my path presents an opportunity to share the grace and love He has freely bestowed on me. Click To Tweet
Have you ever felt like hiding?
