It Happened at the Post Office

My spiritual growth was severely tested this week.

It all started out okay. I went to the post office to mail a few things. There was a line. I waited in line. My turn came and I walked up to the post office representative behind the counter.

Then he just stood there…and stood there…calmly folding papers in front of him and putting them to the side. One…then two…then three…then four…and on and on. Very slowly…very deliberately.

He did not even look up and acknowledge my presence.

The gesture was clear…I am important…you are not…I have power…I can make you wait here as long as you like…

Let’s just say I was getting angry…very angry. I kept staring at him…but he did not even look up.

I began to think thoughts like,

“This is why the post office loses billions of dollars a year.”

“Only a tax supported entity could exist with this poor level of customer service.”

“Who does this jerk think he is?”

I almost said something very unkind…then at the last moment thought about being a follower of Jesus.

What should a follower of Jesus do in this situation?

I was reminded of Philippians 2:5-7, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus;”

Uh oh…this is not going to go where I want it to go…

“Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;”

Getting worse…

“Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Yep…now I am done.

The post office clerk looked up…I looked at him…he looked at me…he said how are you?…I said, just fine…thank you.

As we concluded our business I looked at him, smiled, and said have a nice day.

Wow…that was close. I almost handled that situation very differently. On another day I might have.

But as I got back into my car I noticed something…joy…I felt joy.

Joy because I had honored God in my actions.

This is the value of spiritual growth. As you grow spiritually you will find yourself behaving in more daily situations the way Jesus desires. This will produce greater joy and in turn produce greater spiritual growth.

Don’t give up. Growing spiritually is worth it!