Better Than The Alternative

It is one of those stores that gives you reward points for every purchase.
Reward points that accumulate and become cash.
I had accumulated $20 to use towards another purchase.
A $20 certificate that would expire at the end of the month.

I decided to go into the store and look around.
Nothing hit my eye.
I really didn’t need anything.
Anything I bought would simply be because I had $20 to spend.

That was until I passed the coats.
All the coats were on clearance.
They were all drastically marked down from the original price.
I was doing the math in my head: $20 cash certificate and a coupon for 20% off the price.

I didn’t really need a coat.
The only coat I would have bought, they didn’t have this late in the winter.
But then my eye went to one particular coat.
A spring coat in a delicious color.

A raspberry sorbet color, perfect for warmer weather.
They had my size.
I took off my heavy winter coat to try it on.
It fit perfectly.

It wasn’t something I really needed.
I walked over to look in the mirror despite my mental objections.
The color was the thing that sold me on the coat.
I was coaxing spring to arrive with my purchase.

I was delighted with the discount I would receive at the register.
I was thinking about how it would be a few months before I could even wear the coat.
Somehow the purchase of a spring coat in a delicious color made me smile.
A ridiculous reason to smile, but it did, nonetheless.

I reached the register and the cashier was waiting for me.
Ready to checkout? he asked pleasantly.
Yes, I am, I said laying my new coat on the counter.
Well, how nice to see a happy face!

I hadn’t realized that I was still smiling.
How silly to be smiling about the coat.
I looked him in the eye.
It is better than the alternative.

I hadn’t planned to say anything so profound.
I hadn’t planned to say anything at all except, thank you.
He looked down and then back at me.
Oh, how right you are! Hmmm, I never really thought about that!

Neither had I until that moment.
I finished my purchase and went out to my car.
I thought of Ed, an older man from my church who died over a year ago.
Ed, whose answer to my one question always made me smile.

How are you, Ed?
Better than I deserve, he would say.
His answer always made me pause.
Better than I deserve.

That’s the problem.
So many of us think we deserve so many things.
We are entitled to this or that.
We raise our children to believe the same lie.

Still pondering all of this after I got home, I thought of a particular quote.
It is a quote from Charles Spurgeon, who was known as the Prince of Preachers.
Spurgeon was a British Baptist pastor who lived from 1834-1892.
He delivered thousands of sermons in his lifetime, sometimes as many as 10 in one week.

Spurgeon said, He that deserves nothing should be content with anything.
Ed, from my church, intuitively knew that.
Better than I deserve.
The antithesis of entitlement.

…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)

Contentment.
What is the alternative?
Entitlement.
The opposite of grace.

Contentment is better than the alternative.
It is knowing that whatever you receive is far better than what you truly deserve.
It is living with unexpected joy over whatever grace is extended to you each day.
It is living without expecting anything but with gratitude because you received much more.

Better than the alternative.
Hesed.
The untranslatable Hebrew word.
A word that is loosely translated as loving kindness or mercy.

Hesed is a defining characteristic of God.
Singer-songwriter Michael Card defines hesed perfectly.
The One from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.
That is the definition of grace.

Grace is better than the alternative.
Salvation is better than the alternative.
Mercy is better than the alternative.
Love is better than the alternative.

We should be amazed at what we receive each day from the hand of God.
Unexpected.
Undeserving.
Freely given.

How should we respond to such grace?
How should we live?
Smiling over a delicious colored spring coat?
Yes, but so much more.

It is so much more.
It is always better than what we truly deserve.
It is always more than we ever imagined.
Who would ever want the alternative?

 

2 responses to “Better Than The Alternative”

1. If only we would always remember that we don’t deserve any of the blessings God has given us, that His mercy and grace are the most important gifts we have. We get so caught up in the world and take God’s gifts for granted. Thanks, Gina, for reminding us.

   Reply

   • Sue,
     I need to be reminded, too.
     Gina

     Reply