The other day, I was in a store and the cashier gave me back an extra dollar. As I walked away, I thought to myself, “Oh, it’s only a dollar” but then I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Return it.” So, I turned around, went back to the cashier and told him that he gave me an extra dollar. There were a few people in the store who saw what I did and one lady said to me, “Aww, that was nice of you.” Another cashier said, “I wish you were here yesterday when my drawer was short $5.” Honestly, I didn’t think anything of it. I just knew I didn’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t trying to be “miss goody two-shoes.” Later, I felt as if it was simply a test.
In spite of the compliments, however, there was a gentleman who wasn’t very nice about what I did. He looked at me with disgust and said, “I know you didn’t come back in here to only return a dollar” – which was my first thought as well. He then went on to say, “Why don’t you just give me that dollar?”
I replied, “No, I won’t.”
He then said to me sarcastically, “Do you really believe the Lord is up in heaven worrying about you giving back one dollar?”
I said, “I don’t want to do anything that would stop or block my blessings.”
He went on to say, “I know you have kept money that was overpaid before. You did not turn it back in.”
I quickly responded, “I don’t think so.” However, I remembered later that I did, indeed, keep money in the past. In retrospect, I wish I had said in those moments that I didn’t want to do anything to grieve the Holy Spirit.
My final thoughts –
After this incident, a few things came to mind:
1. This happened on the Day of Atonement, and I felt it was a test to see if I would obey the Lord Jesus or my flesh.
2. I didn’t want to do anything to hinder my prayers.
3. I don’t want to do anything to grieve the heart of God.
4. I hope and pray that I would do the same thing if it was a substantial amount of money.
5. I hope and pray that I can pass other tests and always be OBEDIENT to the voice of GOD!
What would you have done? Would you have returned the dollar? Do you think your prayers can be hindered by disobedience?
I’m reminded of when the prophet Samuel told Saul that God didn’t want his offering, but his OBEDIENCE: “But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
Days later, I felt like I had another test – a mean-spirited person said something ugly to me. The person was very disrespectful because I didn’t dance by her music or do something she wanted me to do. At a later date, I will deal with this spirit of manipulation, which I have seen so much of. It’s a very ugly spirit.
I wanted to respond with a very nasty email, but I didn’t. Instead, I told the person, “OK and God bless you!”