The Jury Summons came sometime in late April. It has been quite a while since I have
received one, and my children are now old enough that I can no longer claim them
as the “exemption” for needing full time, at home care.
I had logged on to the website with my given juror ID and
password and was assigned a future date during the summer. As is standard, the day before I anxiously
awaited the clock to strike 6:01 P.M. so that I could call the recorded line to
hear if I needed to report the next morning.
Ugh! I hate to say
it, but that was my honest exclamation, and I did not want the recording to tell
me that, “All jurors are to arrive at the County Court House at 8:30 A.M.”
Take a moment, Lisa.
Perspective.
“You
will guard me and keep me in perfect and constant peace when my mind is stayed
on You, because I commit myself to You, lean on You and hope confidently in
You.”
Isaiah
26:3
I had just finished my week in a new Bible study about Abram
(later to be re-named Abraham) and the call on his life from God to “Go”.
My sweet friends and I were going to meet that night to discuss
the first week’s lesson and I had to admit that I was late in getting my days
underway. They did ask, inquire and
request suggestions of what we wanted to study this summer, but as usual, I
kept silent and didn’t vote. When I got
my book, it just didn’t grab my attention and so, I just let is set on my desk
and, well…… set.
Then, out of obligation, I began.
Genesis 12:1 – 5
The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country,
your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to
show you. I will give you many
descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make
your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who
bless you,
But I will curse those
who curse you.
And through you I will
bless all the nations.”
Then, I began to find out why God had this study picked out
JUST for ME and JUST for NOW!
He is so amazing and makes me laugh sometimes. The God of Heaven and Earth knew exactly what
I would be going through today and that I would put off this lesson for 3 days
and that I needed it today, even in my delay.
Ha! His Grace is definitely sufficient
for ME!
Well, anyway, I began to read, as I had studied about
Abraham before that God simply asked him to pick up and “Go”, but did not tell
him where. The study tells him to leave
his home (called Ur) and his “usual routine.”.
That stopped me in my tracks. I had just quit my job with a “call on my
life” from God to slow down, take time to worship, study and listen to
Him; to seek and inquire of Him; and to
write and pursue women’s ministry. God
has asked me to “Go” from my “usual routine” but He has not told me where….
Yet!
Comfort. God using
the ordinary and flawed people to follow Him and carry out His will. Yes, Lord.
Those are the only two words I can put together.
Not only had God asked Abram to, “Go”, but He had promised
to “bless” him and make him a great nation.
But, as Abram traveled with his wife, Sarai (later Sara), they came to
Egypt where Abram feared for their safety.
So he schemed a plan and told Sarai that he would pass her off as his
sister, because of her great beauty. For
his concern was that she would be taken from him, and that he would be killed.
Fear had taken over. Most
likely, the promises of God were still so new to him that they had not sunk deeply
into Abram’s heart. His many years of
self reliance kicked in and gave way to his plan.
Unfortunately, his plan was a failure and the Pharaoh took
Sarai as his own. Not until God sent
diseases to plague the kingdom of Egypt, did Pharaoh become enraged and give
her back to Abram and set them free.
If only Abram had trusted God. “I will bless you,” He had said.
Jury Duty. I know,
it’s not Egypt! There is no possible
loss of life for me.
But, there is
death: the death of my plans for the
week; the death of my thoughts trapped in a courtroom of negative manipulation;
the death of my free will and my time.
Rest assured, I have been given multiple suggestions on
“how to avoid jury duty”, all by well meaning friends and family.
One even mentioned the option of just not attending. Evidently, they don’t have enough time or
manpower to track down the offenders who violate this. Another stated that I should be extremely
opinionated and raise my hand and object every question and or situation that
arises. And still others directed me to
websites listing multiple options "out".
And then God rested heavily on my heart and told me that I
needed to simply trust Him. That He was
the sovereign God who created and owned all things….. including my time. How much do I trust Him? This was my opportunity, in the small and
simple choices to demonstrate to Him that I put myself in His hands. I need to show honor to the responsibilities of this life and to God.
I trust You Lord:
with my plans for this week; with my thoughts; with my free will and my
time.
And so, I got up early, followed my typical routine at the
gym and, after getting ready for the day, headed off to the courthouse. For the entire 20-minute drive, I quieted my
heart, praying out loud, alone in my car.
I asked Him to fill me with His peace, His Spirit and give me the
correct attitude. I prayed that if I was faced with
questions, that I would give answers that I would not regret or feel were less
than truthful or forced.
I had even packed a tote bag with extra things to read and
work on, as I heard it could be a long day of sitting and waiting.
At 8:30 the roll call began and we filed into the small
courtroom. It certainly wasn’t
alphabetical, but they did call me near the end. We filled out our paperwork and then took a
20 minute break; for what I’m not certain.
Upon the next roll call, the names began again, but this
time, after the first 26 names, she suddenly stopped!
The door to the courtroom closed. The clerk looked up from her list, and began,
“The attorneys have decided to only accept 26 jurors for today. If I call your last name, you are free to
go….”
Praise God! He was
faithful! I was FREE to Go!
And if He had not released me from this Jury Duty, I had a
peaceful and calm heart ready to serve.
He had humbled me and let me learn a lesson through Abram
and Sarai from so many generations ago.
What a great God we serve when we are humble and believe
that He is our God and He will fulfill His promises to bless us.
But, I must
keep in mind all that God had told Abram, for it also applies to us,
“I will bless you …, so that you will be a
blessing.”
I am
certainly not seeking fame, nor am asking for God to make me famous as was the
middle of this verse. Abram was later
named Abraham for his faith and God rewarded him and kept His promises of
generations. Many referred to the one we
call God as “The God of Abraham” since there were people of that time that
worshiped many gods. That is the fame
that omitted from this verse.
However, I
do not want to miss the second command of this verse. God blessed me today, in many ways.
What I need
to do is to bless others. I now need to
BE A BLESSING.
God does
not just want to bless us because He loves us.
He wants us to pass it along and share His blessings.
STOP. BREATHE and take that in!
God wants
to bless you to BE A BLESSING.
I’m heading
out to share…. He told me to Go!
What will
you do with your blessings today? Have
you counted them?
Now share.
