“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18
My wife and I were discussing our day when the doorbell rang. I could see through the curtains that I didn’t know the person who had rung the doorbell, and proceeded cautiously to answer. Immediately recognizing the who, what and why of this visitor, I silently breathed a heartfelt prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving to God. JOYFUL that ‘I’ wasn’t ‘him’!
The young lad was both kind, and kind of new at his job as a door to door window salesman. Decorum and his boss dictated that he start off winning me over by making small talk upon which I could agree. Seeing his old used vehicle in the street, rain started pouring down upon it. Feeling his pain, I couldn’t just say ’NO’ and send him out there to get soaked. So we communicated!
I was NATURALLY kind. Having made my living in sales, I had empathy for him and his situation. He was a door to door salesman, cold calling for leads and HOPING he could find someone interested in his product, which was windows. As the rain started letting up, my ‘no thank you’ became increasingly more firm. He HAD to have had SOME experience because he kept talking… with hope in his voice. Which is what he was supposed to do!
While going over the features and benefits of his product, “IF I were to take advantage of the sale right now,” I finally dropped the shock anchor. “Son, I don’t care about saving money!” I then went on to sell HIM on the idea of finding another way of sales that didn’t involve door knocking, suggesting that he set his sights a little higher and find a better way of finding people who MIGHT be interested in his product. As I closed the door, my last thought was…”poor kid!” Because he WAS!
We learn by getting burned, failure, trial and error and by hard knocks. The PAIN of those experiences can actually be used AGAINST us. The world, the flesh and the devil PREY upon people who want to eliminate the pain of bad circumstances. God DOESN’T! He pulls no punches when He promises He will go THROUGH the waters and fire WITH US… thereby affirming that pain is on the way.
I put my life, faith and hope in Jesus Christ. NOT by Blind Faith, but by tested experience. God said, “TEST ME AND SEE!!” I did, and He passed! And BECAUSE I have TRIED other things and FOUND that THEY don’t work, it isn’t so hard to trust ‘The One’ who doesn’t demand I see to believe Him. When the world offers petty things that do not satisfy, I really CAN say, with firm commitment, “I am NOT INTERESTED!” The shock on their face is a GREAT opening way for me to start suggesting that they may want to consider Jesus!
