Shopping with Mom
Sometimes, when we are receptive, God gives us a glimpse into that part of His character that transcends all human understanding. These moments, whether experienced in life or in Bible study, deepen our understanding of God and allow us to comprehend His infinite wisdom and greatness.
This past week, God revealed to me an insight that many of you may identify with. But before we go there, a little backstory is necessary.
We all have our obsessions. Mine change over time, but the current obsession is with clothing and fashion. I know this may sound rather petty to some, and I agree -- it is petty. That's why, for the past few weeks, I have mulled over my current obsession with pangs of guilt and remorse. I fully realized that when our minds are occupied by something other than God, we are violating the first commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Yet I was continually sinning against God by thinking of something other than Him.
As some of you may know, my mother has stomach cancer. She was diagnosed in April of this past year.
Anyone who knows my mother will agree that my mother is a fashionista in the best sense of the term (though she doesn't obsess over it like I do). The theme for my mother all throughout her battle with cancer has been this: make yourself happy. By increasing the endorphins produced by feelings of happiness, a cancer patient will have better odds of surviving the illness. So my family has been encouraging her to start making herself happy: eat well, shop well, pray well (at the risk of borrowing from a popular title on the market now).
For the past few weeks, I have been shopping with my mother. It has been a tremendous bonding experience. I've been encouraging her to buy the occasional expensive piece because it makes her happy, and, after an initial reluctance, my mother has begun to do just that -- be happy. Then it came to me: I thought it quite coincidental that I would have my obsession when my mother needed some family support and bonding. That's when I realized, with God's grace, that He can take something like my obsession, in all its ugly sinfulness, and use it to further His ends.
God works in mysterious ways. The Bible, as a record of God's dealings with man, recounts the inestimable ways in which God can create something beautiful out of what may at first seem hopelessly decrepit. Praise God that he can work a miracle in our lives without our being aware of it!