My Omission

One day my husband, kids, & I all loaded up to go to our local Wal-Mart. Now let me point something out: I do not dislike shopping at Wal-Mart, but I prefer to go alone (not with my children). So on this particular day we had done some shopping & lastly my husband needed to exchange an item. There were only a few people in line at customer service, but it was taking a very long time. My children’s good behavior was rapidly changing. You see, they each have this internal good-behavior timer set to 30 minutes from the second you step into the store. Once their timers go off, it’s over. You can expect fighting, pestering, whining, meltdowns, touch every item in sight, or wild-animal-trapped-in-a-shopping-cart behavior. My daughter, bored, began questioning everything & complaining. My son was loudly, jumping up & down in the shopping cart acting like a crazed monkey. Needless to say, I was flustered & ready to go home.

There was an older lady & her daughter in line directly in front of us. Her daughter seemed agitated to even be with her mother. The daughter was short with her words & often rolled her eyes when her mother would talk. The older lady was nice enough but turned out to be quite the talker too. She asked my daughter & me what seemed a million questions & told us all sorts of information about herself. She told me how much she loved children. How she used to babysit all the time before she moved into the nursing home. I also learned that she had just lost her husband the previous year. I could tell she enjoyed being around my children, but all I cared about was getting our item exchanged and leaving. I didn’t feel like engaging this woman, I was tired & ready to get my wild animals back to the zoo.

We finally got our item exchanged after what seemed like an eternity. I politely smiled & said good bye to the chatty lady, praising God that we could finally go home.

Later that evening, I was reflecting on the day & it hit me like a pile of bricks. I had actually been praying for a few weeks that God would give me opportunities to serve Him. To be his hands & feet. To show others his love. Oh, and what an opportunity I had missed! I was so consumed with my children’s behavior & my selfish “need” to get out of Wal-Mart that I missed the opportunity God had laid before me. I had committed the sin of omission. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do & doesn’t do it, sins. –James 4:17 She was right there in front of me, begging me to get to know her & I chose myself. Here’s what’s even sadder, my precious daughter loves to visit nursing homes. We always took her with us when my husband was a pastor. She would draw as many pictures as she could, & take them to the people in the nursing homes. She has a huge heart for the elderly.

This lonely lady was longing for attention & she loved to be around children. I should have asked her what her name was, where her nursing home was, & if we could come visit her on occasion. Huge opportunity…………………gone.

I actually cried that night so saddened by my sin of omission. I was mourning the opportunity lost & the blessing I was missing out on by getting to know that lonely soul. I actually begged God to let me run into her again for a “do over.”

Sadly, I have not seen her again. But I have learned that God is always giving us opportunities to reach out to others. Guess what? It’s usually when we don’t “feel like it.” When you are tired, grumpy, irritable, or like me trying to manage your wild children.

God considers omission a sin. When His holy spirit prompts us to action & we ignore it we are sinning. If God calls us to act, we need to jump on it! The times I had felt His prompting to act & I did, I have never regretted. It has always ended in a bigger blessing or an opportunity to grow closer to Him. I can tell you that every time I chose to ignore His instruction (like this time) I have deeply regretted it.

As a follower of Christ I want to learn from my mistakes & help other believers to learn from them too. Be sensitive to God’s instruction. Do not be so consumed with yourselves or your circumstances that you miss out on opportunities to serve God & others. In the times you “don’t feel like it” watch out, that’s usually when God provides an opportunity.