It’s a phrase that’s part of my regular vernacular.
Someone asks for a piece of gum and then says they don’t like that flavor? “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
A friend asks to borrow a shirt but complains that it’s missing a button? “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
There were many facets to our work at the homeless shelter this month, and one of the ways that we served was through distributing clothes that had been donated by the community.
There was a little room on the top floor of the shelter where men and women could come and receive one new piece of clothing. For an hour before lunch, two of us girls would stand inside (separated by a barn-style half door) and hand out an item to each person in line.
The clothes that are donated are looked over before they are put into our closet. There are no holes in the pants or stains on the shirts. But the first day that I handed out clothes, I couldn’t help but laugh at how picky these people were!
I can’t tell you how many times a half naked man would refuse a shirt because it wasn’t the right color, or one with unbelievably tattered and stinky clothes would walk away with nothing because we didn’t have pants with “the kind of pockets he liked”.
By the end of the first day, we were finally serving the last lady, and after going through every single blouse and having each one rejected, I blurted out, “Ya know what? Beggars can’t be choosers.”
It was so second nature to use that phrase, but I didn’t realize until that moment that here were literal beggars who were probably the choosiest people I had ever met!
And I just started laughing.
I guess beggars can be choosers!
The irony.
But it also got me to thinking .. isn’t that exactly what I do to God?
I come before Him half naked, tattered and smelly, and tell Him that the gifts He’s offering me aren’t good enough.
They’re not the right color; not quite my style.
I ask Him to remake me, and then complain when He puts me through the process that will do just that.
He must look at me and chuckle the same way I did at these homeless Malays, thinking “This is what’s best for you, just trust me.”
But the difference is that what I was offering them was a piece of clothing. A second-hand, temporary solution to their problem. What God offers is so much more than that.
As His children He wants to pour out blessings on us – it’s just up to us to not look at them and say we wish they were a different color.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11
