One of life’s most simple pleasures is Chick-fil-A. Wouldn’t you agree? It’s one place I love to go and treat myself when I’ve been out running errands. And my children always request to go there as a treat. There’s just something about it I can’t get enough of. Warm chicken-y goodness all wrapped up with a smile. It’s addicting.
I am not sure why God likes to use Chick-fil-A to teach me little lessons. I am beginning to think God must have some stock in the company. Either that or Chick-fil-A is just a preview of what heaven will be like. I’m thinking it’s more of the latter. You can read about a time when He taught me a lesson on obedience in the drive-thru here.
A few days ago I had actually gotten away by myself. I love to do this on the rare occasion that my life isn’t getting in the way of my life. I had driven down to the river on a cold morning to just sit and be still. That’s another blog post on why there is so much importance in that, but I digress. I spent a couple hours reading my Bible, praying, writing in my journal and just enjoying creation. Plugging into His power source is such a great soul recharge. I urge you to carve out a date with Jesus like that and see just how much more peace He gives you.
Even though my soul was full, my stomach was not. I decided to drive into the nearest town and pick up some Chick-fil-A. That was over 10 miles out of the way, but I didn’t care. I had the craving and the time.
Now, some of you probably have your standard order. And you’re probably pretty loyal to your favorite sauce. Me? If you want to bring me lunch, you can’t go wrong with chicken strips and Chick-fil-A sauce. This has changed since my college days when I lived off of the Chick-fil-A sandwich drenched in honey mustard. Either one is a winner and will earn you serious brownie points around noon on any given day (except Sunday).
So there I am in the drive through line, miles away from home. But it doesn’t matter. They’re all the same. They all serve the same recipe. The same sauces. They all greet you with a smile you can actually see through the speaker. I trust this place.
I place my order and the sweet girl named after my daughter (aww…added warm-fuzzy bonus) asks me if I want any sauce with that. Chick-fil-A sauce! I could probably drink the stuff! She tells me my total and I drive around to complete my transaction.
When she hands me my order she says, “And your Chick-fil-A sauce is in the bag.” I smiled, thanked her, told her to have a great day and drove off.
I drove miles down the road, nearly back to my original spot at the river to enjoy my lunch alone. All that time my mouth is watering and my anticipation is building for what’s inside the warm white bag. When I finally settle into an acceptable lunch spot, I open the bag to pull out what I’ve been waiting for. Hot and delicious chicken with my favorite sauce.
But there’s no sauce! Nothing. Not even the wrong sauce as an acceptable substitute. I realized I was going to have to eat my chicken bare!
Reluctantly I bit into my sauce-less meal. I was disappointed. My daughter’s namesake even told me it was in the bag. I trusted her.
That’s when the Spirit nudged me into a lesson on Trust. It’s my word for 2017. If you’d like to know why, you can read about it here.
We put our trust in so many things don’t we? We trust the little girl to give us the sauce we request. We trust the waitress not to run off with our debit card number. We trust the weather man when he says it won’t rain. We trust that when we ask our children for something to get done, that it gets done and it gets done right.
The truth is that we are human and we can’t trust anyone to get it right 100% of the time.
for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8
God pointed me to this verse while I was at the river that morning. I had spent hours pouring out my heart to Him. Taking refuge in Him. Promising to trust in Him.
I firmly believe He was allowing me to practice my trust with the simple lack of Chick-fil-A sauce. It wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t what I thought I was getting. It wasn’t what I went out of the way for, anticipated and got excited about. I had put my trust in the wrong hands.
I’m not saying that the next time you make your way through the drive-thru that God will be the one handling your order. Although, at Chick-fil-A I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m saying that God is the one handling all of your desires. Right now.
He knows your heart. He knows what you’ve been pouring out to Him because He listens with an eager ear. More importantly, He knows what is best for you in your abundant life.
Are you willing to trust that promise?
Even with your rebellious child? Even with your out of control finances? Even with the broken heart you hold in your hand? Are you willing to trust that no matter what God’s got for you, it’s way better than anything you can find in a drive-thru or anywhere else?
I’m urging you to plug in. Take that downtime. Set that date and just be still to know that He is God and you can trust Him with every desire of your heart.
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