Sometimes decisions are easy.
The other day as I was walking the beach, waiting for an opportunity to speak to the adorable old man with the WWII veteran hat, I found a shark’s tooth in the receding water-line. I was stoked because I hadn’t seen a shark tooth since a trip to Venice, FL in the 90s. When I finally had my opportunity to speak to the old man, who told me there were some good shells where he was walking, I explained that I had found a shark tooth and was seeing if I could find more. As it turned out, my cute old man had been out twice that day looking for shark teeth.
Easy decision: give the old man the shark tooth!
He was, of course, a proper southern gentleman. He said he couldn’t take it because I had found the tooth. As I insisted, he proposed a trade: he gave me a tootsie roll and I gave him my shark tooth.
What he didn’t realize, not only is chocolate my love-language, but he gave me so much more than a piece of candy.
I was given the joy and privilege to hear about his life. He told me about his service during the campaign in Europe, and he allowed me to thank him for serving his country (Side note: our country and our world would not be the same without men and women like him. Having grandfathers who were in the Army and Air Force taught me that lesson at a young age). He also told me about when he would go to Myrtle Beach with his late-wife, and how they used to find shark teeth and sand dollars. He told me that he couldn’t go down to the water anymore because he can’t feel his feet due to neuropathy.
After a few more minutes of chatting, he gave me a hug and set off on his walk again. I spent the next 20-30 minutes lost in thought about what had just happened. There was no coincidence I had found that shark tooth.
That tooth was meant for the man who couldn’t venture down to walk in the surf.
That tooth was meant for the man who had come out twice looking for just one shark tooth.
God allowed me to give someone just a small piece of joy for the day, but in that moment, I was given more joy.
When I returned home, my friend Derek had posted a blog on his band’s website with this verse:
Proverbs 3:27 “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.”
I had literally just been given the power to do good for someone else because I had a shark tooth in my hand.
It doesn’t seem fair that I was given so much joy from this situation, but maybe it’s a good thing. I’m not the giver of joy; only the one who created and saved me gives real joy. I pray that as I prepare for the Race, that the Lord will continue to remind me that it is HIM who is working through me whenever I serve others. I pray that He reminds me never to withhold good when He’s placed the power in my hands to do so.
