A WORD FOR TODAY, August 27, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, August 27, 2021
“Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly: Yahweh will hear when I call to him. Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in Yahweh. Many say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased. In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.” Psalm 4, WEB
I am short, so I often have a problem with items on the top shelves at the store. I can sometimes find a way to get what I want. I often search for some sort of stick that I can use to drag the items to the edge and then let it fall into my waiting arms. Sometimes I seek a taller person who can reach the item for me. I will also search for an employee if there is no other option, but they are often hard to find.
I was once at a store and needed an item that was out of reach. That particular store was going through renovation and the shelving was being reset according to the new plan. Unfortunately, items often get lost in the process when a store goes through change. Fortunately, the item I needed was available, it was just unreachable. I always look at the overstock, just in case the item I need is there. That’s where I found the item I needed on that visit. It was so high that I could not use a stick or a tall person. I needed an employee with a ladder. I found someone who was feeling rushed because she was busy working on the remodel, but she understood that customer service is always more important. She went to the back, got a ladder and got my item for me. That was a lot of work for so little, but I was thankful.
I worked in retail, so I made the suggestion that she get all those items and fill the shelf so that they would be easily available for the next customer. After all, she’d gone to so much trouble to get my item. “I’ll just move a couple. I don’t have time to do anything else because I’m busy with the remodel.” There were less than a dozen of these boxes on the shelf and it would have taken just a few minutes to complete the task. Instead, she decided it would be easier to leave all those items out of reach. She moved a few, but what happens when those are gone? It will require another worker to go through the same process. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to use thirty seconds to just take care of it right then and there rather than waste another five minutes later?
Sadly, I’m sure she probably never got back to it. The store probably lost sales because other customers would not bother to find an employee who could, or would, reach the items. Most customers wouldn’t even notice there were boxes in the overstock. Another problem is that the person who does product orders will see the empty shelf and will order more, even though there are plenty of boxes on the shelf. Those boxes will sit there for a long time, and eventually will be found, covered in dust and unsellable. Those boxes will end up on the clearance rack and the store will lose money.
Is there ever a good time to do a job halfway? Perhaps the priorities for the day were set by the management, but how do you think they would have reacted if they discovered she used so much time and didn’t finish the job? If I were one of the store managers, I would have a talk with that employee about time management, customer service and sales. Remodels are important, but keeping the store in good order while the renovation is underway is vital to the satisfaction of the customers and the future of the store.
I might complain about that store employee, but I am sure there are times when I made similar decisions to do my work halfway. I know from experience it makes the job more difficult when I leave it half done, but I have lots of good excuses when I make the same mistake as that employee.
As I was thinking about that experience I thought about our prayers. Do we ever pray halfway? Do we start praying but then move on to other projects or activities before we have time to actually listen to what God might have to say? Do we think that other things are more important and that we can just get back to our prayers later? Will we get back to it later? Isn’t it ultimately better to take the time to pray and won’t we be better off in the long run if we do?
I’m sure many of us are really good at sending out those quick prayers for needs as we hear of them. I often stop briefly when I’m working on the computer if someone posts a prayer request. I pray a quick prayer when I hear sirens or see an accident on the road. I often pray briefly when I think of a friend or hear some news that demands God’s attention. These prayers are good. But I have to wonder if they are enough? Is that like doing the job halfway? Granted, if we are driving the car, we have to continue driving the car. But what about those moments when we can stop and spend time with God? Do we? Do we give him everything and finish the task before moving on to our other tasks? Can we hear God when He answers if we do not give Him our attention?
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