I worked at a gas station during the last semester of my senior year in high school in order to acquire enough spending money for the trip I was taking to Hawaii. I sat in a booth while customers handed me their cash or credit cards and stated the gas pump number they were using. I would then press the necessary buttons which released the fuel for their cars’ consumption.
I hid behind the glass of the booth and felt securely protected from having to converse with people who drove unmarked white vans or hung skulls from their rearview mirrors. That job was a means to an end. I knew that it wasn’t forever, and, the job also awarded discounts from the snack area on my two favorites: Dr. Pepper and Nacho Cheese Doritos. The job was often boring so I created fictitious scenarios about why people only put $2 worth of gas in their cars or why they nearly washed their entire car with the overused washer fluid and squeegee. The job was often lonely and provided nothing to enhance my social life. However, as a gas attendant I learned to smile, be friendly, multi task, and politely tell people that their card was declined. My tenure as a gas attendant was a blip in the big picture of my life.
Although this job seemed mundane I know that God used this opportunity to teach me things that would help me as I journeyed through life with Him. Sometimes we experience time of loneliness, boredom, and inadequacy and other times our lives are full of joy, excitement, and new beginnings. How is God using you in the season in which you find yourself? Ask Him to open your heart and mind to see what He sees and to be surrendered to His plan.
“Do what you will with me, O God, make of me what you will, change me as you will, and use me as you will, both now and in the larger life beyond; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
A Diary of Private Prayer-John Baillie and Susanna Wright
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