I originally told this story ten years ago, but thought it might be time to revisit it.
It was a day much like today. I was on a mission and I had a plan. There is a certain level of pride and confidence that accompanies those two ideals.
However, I had a pretty good lesson in humility and pride on that particular day. It was a moment of internal embarrassment and readjustment in my thinking.
It was one of those outdoor shopping centers with a Best Buy and an Office Depot spaced with several other stores in between. I was comparing prices on laptops and calculating insurance reimbursements in light of a recent burglary. It was the upside of getting ripped off and having good coverage.
But that is not the story.
I had taken note of the order of the stores from the parking lot and calculated that I could get a nice walk accomplished just by moving between them and within them. I left Best Buy and began to walk toward Office Depot when a man crossed my path looking a bit dazed and confused and heading toward the Target Store.
When he was unable to open the door because he was attempting to enter through the exit, I mentally prepared to point at the entrance to help him out.
I may or may not have actually pointed. I am a little fuzzy on this point because the real work was going on inside me. There was a flash of smugness and superiority.
"I can read signs," I thought. "Why can't everyone else?"
That was short lived.
At the next shop, I entered through the correct door - without a hitch. It was not an exit. It was an entrance! How proud of myself, I was. "I can read signs."
Then, I looked around and, in a moment of bewilderment, observed racks of clothes.
"Why are they selling clothes at Office Depot?"
Had the world gone mad? Had there been a shift in reality?
They were not selling clothes at Office Depot it turned out.
They were selling clothes at T.J. Maxx.
Tom Sims, the great sign reader-observer, had entered the door of the wrong store while basking in the glory of in his ability to use the right door.
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." - I Corinthians 10:12
In The Message, the extend version reads:
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
-I Corinthians 10:11-13
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
So, which was worse, the wrong store or the wrong door?
Somehow, as I chuckled inside at my own fallibility and silly pride, I knew I would have to confess this in my blog and hang it out like dirty laundry for all the world to see.
I was reminded to cultivate God-confidence over self-confidence and embrace the tests of how well I am trusting that as a step of growth.
There was also some mention of a speck in your brother's eye and a plank in ones own as I recall ...
What's more?
That is up to you.
Credit: ReverendFun.com
