Give It Away

But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins (Luke 6:49, NLT).

My friend and I had just finished doing a little shopping one evening when we tossed our bags into the backseat and hopped in the car. Both feeling tired and borderline hangry, we began discussing where to grab food before heading home. As residents of a town where there is no Chick-fil-A, we often land on this decision when we’ve made a trip into Lexington. As we turned off to enter the restaurant’s parking lot, we were greeted by a long line of cars, which, if you’ve been before, you know isn’t uncommon. After some deliberation, we decided to wait out the line and celebrate our successful shopping trip with their classic chicken sandwich, delicious waffle fries, and of course, their famous Chick-fil-A sauce. We pulled up to the window after ordering, were handed our drinks, and then asked to pull through and wait under a large tent for someone to bring our food. As I pulled forward, I glanced to my right and caught sight of an older gentleman standing in the drizzling rain holding a sign that read “homeless and hungry.” Immediately, I felt in my spirit this gentle voice that whispered, “Give the man your extra Chick-fil-A sandwich. After having a little internal dialogue with the Lord about what He was asking me to do, I decided the immediacy of the prompting and the fact I had ordered an extra chicken sandwich to take home for later was not a coincidence. Moments later, I found myself rolling down the window and handing this man a sandwich just before we pulled back onto the road to head toward home.

I don’t know about you, but this sort of thing happens to me quite often. I’ll feel a nudge to pay for someone’s coffee in line at Starbucks, prompted to contribute to a particular organization or group, or led to send a text to check on a friend. But, how often do I actually respond in obedience to these promptings as though I really believe it’s the Lord asking me to do these things? Luke 6:49 reads: But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins. Wow. That sure does give me pause. As a follower of Jesus, I want to be someone who not only has ears that are always open to hearing the Lord but one that follows through in obedience. If I stop to listen but do not respond with action, what kind of foundation am I standing upon? This is a question I’ve struggled with in my own life in terms of what it looks like to be obedient when the Lord prompts me to do something. When the enemy sends waves of doubt through my mind, I must remember my foundation in Christ and respond with obedience, even when it may not be something I would normally think to do. Maybe you can ask yourself the same question and then pause to see how God responds.

Back to the Chick-fil-A story—it gets better. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at my house, unloaded the vehicle, and settled in to enjoy our long-awaited meal. As my friend pulled our food out of the bag, she paused, looked up at me, and we both realized there was only one sandwich. Neither of us had thought to check when we pulled away from the drive-thru, but we had actually only been given two sandwiches instead of the three I ordered. After a quick check of the car to make sure it hadn’t somehow fallen out of the bag (we both knew that likely wasn’t the case but decided to look anyway), we both just laughed. Standing in my kitchen with only one sandwich between the two of us, I was sure of one thing: God certainly has a sense of humor.

I immediately remembered some leftovers that a patient had brought to me at work earlier that afternoon that I wasn’t able to eat at the time. I smiled, went to the refrigerator, pulled out the food and heated it up to enjoy with my Chick-fil-A waffle fries. A few moments later, I realized this truth while praying before the meal: God always provides, even if it doesn’t necessarily look the way we think it might.

I’m so thankful for the lesson I learned that evening. Chick-fil-A sandwiches are pretty darn delicious and amazing, but even the most wonderful things of this world pale in comparison to the blessings and promises of God we will receive when we choose to follow Jesus. Leaving Lexington that evening, I was confident the Lord was telling me to give away the sandwich. I was also confident that I was going to be enjoying a sandwich some thirty minutes later. Though it turned out I had no sandwich, and my belly was a little less full than what it would have been, my heart was full of joy knowing that responding in obedience provided an opportunity for the love of Jesus to be expressed through me.

I hear and don’t always obey, but I’m working on that. I hope you’ll join me in that challenge, too. The next time you’re prompted to share something, donate money, pay for someone’s meal, or experience any other number of nudges from the Lord, pause and remember the foundation upon which you stand, and then give away that sandwich. When we choose to be Christ-followers who listen and respond in obedience, we will experience the joy that comes from expressing the love of Jesus to others while always giving God the glory.