Turn It Around


After a weekend business trip, I looked over at the refrigerator and saw a letter from the utilities company I had clipped there on Friday.  I remembered it had said I should set up an appointment for my inside water meter to be checked.  Picking up the letter I found the number and called.  The representative on the other end seemed very polite and while she was checking for an appointment time, she calmly informed me that she was going to put me on hold for a moment while she dispatched a message to the workers in the field that day to cancel turning my water off.  My response was something like, "What? Did you say they were going to turn off my water?"  (I was sure I had misheard)  But the kind, (yet now defensive sounding) voice replied, "Yes, if we can't get an appointment within a certain time period we have to turn the water off until our workers can get in the home."  It was only the Holy Spirit-it had to be- that kept me calm.  I almost laughed, in fact.  Had I forgotten to pay my water bill sometime and didn't know it?   She assured me that all my bills had been paid in a timely manner and my only offense was that I hadn't called to make the appointment.   She agreed that it was extreme to turn off the water without giving the customer more notice than what I had received.  Thankfully, the crisis was averted, my water service went uninterrupted, and the appointment was made.
At another time in my life, I might have let something like this upset me.  It seemed so unfair.  Following up with that letter only a few days after I received it did not seem unreasonable to me.  I could have really let the conversation with the lady from the water company ruin my day.  But I didn't.  I sensed the defensive tone in the voice of the representative, and knew she most likely had to deal with angry customers frequently.  She was probably waiting for me to say something unkind in my frustration, but instead my response was: "You know, let's count it a blessing that I happened to pick today to call you, because I called you just in time to stop them from turning off my water.  Thanks for listening and for taking care of that for me.  You've been wonderful."  The strident defensive tone in her voice changed immediately to one of relief.  I could practically hear her smiling when she said, "Really?  Oh wow, okay, let's do that.  Thank you!"
Life's little inconveniences, fair or not, can set off tempers and frustrate us to the point of saying things we regret, but if we keep things in perspective, the "little inconveniences" are just that- little.  God loves us and wants us to always be joyful.  Knowing myself and my tendencies in the past, it is nothing short of a miracle when He works in me to take a potentially bad situation, and turn it around to a blessing.  If I keep my heart and mind focused on Him and what is important, He gives me the ability to accept the day-to-day annoyances with grace, and in the process, allows me to pass that grace to someone else.                                                                                                                                               ©2014Janet Davis

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
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