How to glorify God by parking in stupid places

My workplace is a bit short on parking spots, so when I took advantage of my flexible hours yesterday and came in a bit later, there was no room for my car. So I decided to park by the distribution warehouse next-door. They had lots of room, and I made sure to park so that I wouldn't be in anyone's way. All in all, I was pretty happy with my newfound parking spot until that same afternoon, when I was going to head home. That's when I noticed the fence around the warehouse. And the gate. Which of course was securely locked.

Now I believe in a God who is sovereign. And that nothing in this world happens randomly or without purpose. And I know that my choice of parking spots most certainly is not exempt from his sovereignty.

I mumbled a quick prayer for help as I headed back to the building where I work. If I had stopped and listened for his answer, maybe this would be a post about success in stead of failure. Maybe I would have heard his Spirit whisper to my soul that he knew this was going to happen, and had a purposely allowed it. And that I was to look for an opportunity in it to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

Perfume does no good as long as it stays in the bottle.

One of the girls who work at the front desk were really helpful in tracking down the owners of the warehouse, and finding a guy with a key who was kind enough to come open the gates for me. As far as I could tell, she is not a Christian. But she went the extra mile for me, even though I caught her on her way home. She was in that instance more Christlike than many Christians sadly are. She's what most would call a good person.

Only in human eyes, though. And as sure as the fact that she's breathing, is the fact that she has sinned against God on countless occasions, either in thought, word or deed. And that unless she finds atonement for those sins, she will be punished for them eternally in hell. Yes, she was good to me. But good deeds don't wash away crimes against the king of the universe. And even if her sins are such that we would take lightly, because we've done many of the same sins ourselves, God is holy and pure. And he sees sin through other eyes than we do.

So this girl did her very best to help me in any way she could. Did I do my best to help her in any way I could? We stood around and talked for 10-15 minutes, and I had ample opportunity to share with her the knowledge that Christ could take her sins away. The fact that I didn't makes no sense, and there's no excuse for it.

I wasted an excellent opportunity to glorify ma savior. And it would be no exaggeration to say that this girl acted in a more Christlike manner than me yesterday. Yet on judgment day, through the undeserved grace of Christ, I'm the one who will go to heaven. And unless she comes to a saving faith in him, she will go to hell.

May I never again waste my fragrance by keeping it bottled.