Did I do wrong with that beer bottle?

It was a gorgeous day for a walk; blue sky and only one small cloud in sight. I took in a deep breath and prayed, “Lord, walk with me today. I would love to spend this time with you.” I am sure it tickled His ear to have me ask Him to join me. He delights in his children! So I decided then that I would take a bit longer walk this morning. It was so nice and I loved being outside.

I was quiet so that I wouldn’t miss anything the Lord might want to say. I was so eager this morning for some reason. I made my first turn and right away noticed some trash on the sidewalk, I stepped over it and walked on. Then I heard this quiet voice in my head. “Go back and pick it up.”

I said out loud, “What? Go pick it up?” Yep, I heard right. So I turned around and went back and picked up the fast food bag that had been discarded and now wet from the sprinklers.

So, I continued on my walk a few more feet and I saw something else. I heard, “pick it up,” so I did. Not long, I saw something else. I turned my head, pretending as if I didn’t see it; as if He didn’t see it!

But, oh no, he saw it and of course I was impressed to go back and pick it up. “Lord, it’s a beer bottle!” “People will see me walking along carrying this beer bottle. Yuck!” But, I picked it up.

Next I saw a soda bottle. I knew I had to pick it up also, so I did. A few more feet of walking, I heard this quiet voice say, “You know, Jessy, if you poured out that soda it wouldn’t be so heavy.” I laughed out loud! Ok, so I stopped and dramatically took the lid off and poured out the soda.

I was now almost to the end of my first main street and ready to turn the corner. I said to the Lord, “Lord this is so much fun today but if you want me to do trash duty, give me a bag!” You wouldn’t believe it! Just after I made my turn onto a business street, I found a big black trash bag.

It was torn completely down one side, but it was a bag. I laughed out loud again. “God you are too much fun!” So I put all the collected trash in the bag and folded it up so that I could continue on my very long morning walk.

I noticed a lady walking toward me. Her accent told me she may be from Jamaica or some similar place. She smiled at me as she approached so I smiled back and said, “Good morning.” She stopped and said to me, “Is this your job?”

I laughed and said no. So then she said, “Why would someone do that?” (She meant picking up the trash.) So I tried to tell her about my walking adventure, she just smiled at me and said “Ok, have a good day.” That made me laugh out loud again!

I continued on my walk. After making my next turn, knowing my walk would soon be over, I said to the Lord, “Lord this has been so much fun. Thank you for walking with me. I know you are trying to tell me something and I don’t want to miss it. Please tell me.” This was the lesson I was to learn and I will never forget it. IF YOU LEARN TO OBEY ME IN THE LITTLE THINGS, YOU WILL LEARN TO OBEY ME IN THE BIGGER THINGS. How cool! Very clear! I got this one!

I soon turned onto my street thinking my walk was over but I was wrong. Wouldn’t you know it, a dog had gotten into the neighbors trash can. Trash was all over the street. My thought was that I learned the lesson taught to me and I was almost home. I really didn’t need to stop and pick up that trash also. Wrong! So I crossed the street and began picking up the trash.

When I got home, I went in through the front door and out to the garage to throw the trash bag away. My husband never said a thing like it was common for me to come home from a walk with a large bag full of trash! Life just went on like nothing happened. But something did happen. The Lord spoke to my heart and taught me to trust Him and obey Him in every detail.