The Lord takes away, but the Lord gives

Last night, I was given a lesson about perspective. I worked at Harkins Theatre. I was scheduled to be an usher (theater cleaner) from 4pm to 12:30am (which almost never means 12:30, especially on a Saturday night). Some time during my time as an usher, I bent down to pick something up, resulting in a nice new rip in my nice used pants. So, I was walking around with my broom and butler (dustpan thing) strategically placed in front of me, and I was told by a team leader that I would be spending the rest of the night at door. As an usher, I would have been moving around, cleaning theaters, and interacting with my co-workers. At door, I stood in one place, took tickets, and interacted with the general public. I don't like working door.

Anywho, my legs were hurting for standing in one place for so long. I didn't even sit down on my break because I biked over to Target to get an energy drink. I was super tired standing there. I was hoping that I would actually get off at 12:30, so I could catch the last bus home instead of biking. But on door, I had to stay until 20 minutes after the last movie started (the last movie started at 12:50). I clocked out at around 1:15, went to get my bike, and noticed that my back tire was flat. I walked to the "convenience" store in Tempe Marketplace, and put my 75 cents in to get air (which is just criminal) to fill up my tire. I tried to fill up the tire, but the nozzle thing to put air in kind of came off, so my tire was un-inflatable. I parked it outside of PetsMart and proceeded to walk home (which, according to Mapquest, was a 3.59 mile walk).

As I was walking, I could have grumbled and complained to God, asking why all this had to happen. But instead, I thanked God that I brought my knee brace, because that walk would have been hell without it. And I thanked God that I brought flip-flops to change into, which I never do. Without those, my feet would have died. And I thanked God that my legs weren't tired anymore from standing still for several hours.

I was reminded of Job. Not that my life is or ever has been as bad as Job's was, because it's no where near. But after Job lost all his family, livestock, house, money, he didn't respond by asking God what the big deal was. He didn't say, "The Lord has taken away." He remembered that what he had came from God and that God had the right to take it all away. And he said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." If I had been focusing on the fact that I didn't have a bike or vehicle and had to walk so many miles, then I would have been angry, asking God why He couldn't deflate my tire after I got home. But instead of focusing on what God had taken away, I focused on what God had given me. And I wasn't even thinking about how much I didn't enjoy work. It is awesome to recognize just how enjoyable God can be if we recognize that He is our provider, and not some bully taking away our lunch money and giving us wedgies.