Relax, It Ain't About You

Last night, I watched as a grown man pitched a fit.  It is not an uncommon occurrence.  Watch people for a little bit and you will see it happen as soon as someone does not get exactly what they want, exactly how they want it, exactly when they want it.

This particular fit happened in the dining car of Amtrak’s Silver Meteor, somewhere in the vicinity of Charleston, North Carolina.  It was the 8pm dinner service.  The man was already irritated that they did not seat the 8pm reservations until 8pm, but when he learned that Amtrak dining cars use “community seating” (4 to a table wether you know each other or not) he got angry.  He wanted a table for just himself and his wife.  He yelled at the dining car attendant and stormed out.

Bewildered Amtrak employees laughed, and one said, “There are 300 people on this train and one dining car, how in the world did he expect to get a table to himself?”

He expected it because like most of us, he had the belief that despite 299 other people on the same closed system as himself, he was the most important.  That train will not move without an engineer.  That train will not sit people without a conductor.  That train will not serve food without a chef.  That train (and the dinner service) seems ok without him.

He is no different than the rest of us.  We all tend to forget that there are a lot of people in our world, and it is not centered on us.

As Christians, we can really forget this.  We wonder, “What is God’s will for my life” (a question never asked in scripture).  We assume that God has this grand plan, starring none other than ME!  The truth is, that God does have a grand plan, starring Jesus.  There are billions of extras, but one one star.

But, Aaron, you say, how do I matter at all?

You matter.  You matter in Christ.  When you share in His work, you share in all the most important stuff.  You also matter because an extra in God’s story is not worthless.

Think of a painting.  A great painting.  A painting from a master.  The kind hung in the finest galleries and auctions for untold millions.

You are in that painting.  You are not the subject.  In fact, you are just a brush stroke.  But you are the brush stroke of a master!

The thing is this: Once you realize that you aren’t the center of everything, you can stop worrying about whether or not you are getting what you deserve.  Then you become more aware  of all that is around you and become a larger part of all that God is doing in the world.

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