I was out on a run/walk with the Lord the other day and as I was running, I noticed a bolt that was in my path. Instinctively and without thought, I threw the bolt into someone’s yard. From the moment, I did, I felt a strong voice inside of me say, “That wasn’t right.” So, I ran back to the house where I believe I threw the bolt and started wandering in the front yard trying to find it. I looked up and down with my hands and feet trying to locate the bolt to no avail. I felt stupid for having thrown the bolt into the yard and said to myself, “You idiot! Why did you do that? Someone could get hurt.”
As soon as the thought passed through my mind, the owner of the home saw me out in her yard and said, “Can I help you?” I lied and said. “I was running past your home and I saw something shiny like metal in your yard. I wanted to make sure I got it so no one was hurt.” I kept looking for the bolt without any success. A few more minutes passed, I said, “I can’t find it but I swear it’s in your yard.” She replied, “It’s ok, I will come out here later and see if I can step on it barefoot and find it.” She added, “I’ll make sure my son knows to be careful when he comes and mows my yard again.” I wasn’t satisfied with myself or her answer as she is an older person and I really didn’t want her to get hurt. To no avail, I couldn’t find the bolt and told her, “I’m sorry. I really wanted to find this for you and I just can’t.” She politely said, “It’s ok. I’m sure it will turn up.”
As I reluctantly walked away from her, really feeling down about myself for lying and hoping she or anyone wouldn’t step on the bolt and get hurt, I felt a strong voice inside of me saying, “You didn’t give her the truth. You need to go back and tell her the truth or I’m not going to show you where the bolt is.” “UGH!” I thought. “I can’t do that! She’ll think I’m an awful person for having thrown the bolt into her yard and I have to apologize for lying to her.” The strong voice spoke back and said, “She is kind and she won’t hurt you with her words. Trust me.”
Obviously, the Lord knows me better than I know myself and He knew that I had prayed to Him earlier about me needing to practice humility. But, oh, how I dreaded the idea of having to go back to her house! “She seemed nice.” I told myself as I returned to what I hoped was her home. As I knocked on the door, I quickly shared, “Darlin’, I’m a sinner saved and I’m so sorry that I threw the bolt into your yard and the Lord isn’t going to let me find the bolt until I tell you the truth. I don’t want you or anyone to get hurt. Please forgive me.” She looked at me with a warm smile and a quick hug and said, “I can tell you must know the Lord for you to come back.” I apologized again and told her my name. She told me her name was Maria* and we started a conversation. She shared with me her son had just recovered from cancer and he was the one who cut her yard. She went on to say that she is 82 and that she has known the Lord for a long time.
We chatted with warm smiles and I started looking again with my hands and feet. It felt like I was trying to find a needle in a haystack! As I kept looking, feeling with my hands and feet, some neighbor kids came riding by and wondered what I was looking for. They knew my new friend, Maria, and said to me, “Wow, this is going to take you awhile. I don’t know if you are going to find that bolt.” Almost immediately, after the comment was made, I found the bolt! I looked up towards the sky and said, “Thank you Lord.” Immediately, my mind and body felt a huge relief. I showed Maria the bolt and she was grateful as well. We chatted a little while longer and parted ways.
As I started towards home, I felt so good inside to faithfully do what the Lord asked me to do. Boy, did He bless me beyond measure! And as I continued walking home, the strong voice inside of me said, “So you learned about humility today, didn’t you?” I smiled up to the sky and humbly replied, “Lord, yes I did. Oh, yes I did.”
*= not the person’s actual name
