Having a Bad Day?

It was a few days before Christmas about 25 years ago.

I stopped at the local mall after work to do a little Christmas shopping.

After checking out a few stores I decided to get something to drink.

I made my way to the second floor where there was a common dining area surrounded by several restaurants.

One counter and had only one customer so I got in line behind her.

A young lady in her teens manned the counter and was in the process on waiting on this customer.

This customer was digging through her purse looking for change.

It was obvious from the sound of her grumbling that was having little success.

That’s when it happened!

In an attempt to ease the tension the young lady behind the counter innocently asked, "Having a bad day?"

The woman immediately stopped looking through her purse, glared at the young lady and asked (quite loudly), "What did you just ask me?"

The young lady behind the counter then received a verbal lashing that caused her to turn several shades of pale.

The customer then demanded to see the manager.

At this point, I picked up on two things.

First, the young employee was worried that she was about to lose her job.

Second, the customer indeed had a bad day and was willing to vent her frustration at anyone who dared to get too close.

I wanted to say something to the irate customer but decided to see how the manager would handle this volatile situation.

The manager arrived and asked if there was a problem.

He then became the object of the woman’s wrath.

When the woman finished delivering her complaints, the manager told her that he encourages his employees to be friendly and he felt certain that no harm was intended.

At this the woman’s anger soared to new heights as she all but shouted, "I don’t believe what I am hearing!"

That’s when she made her mistake.

She turned and looked at me and barked, "Do you believe this?"

I looked her in the eye, smiled and asked calmly, "Having a bad day?"

Fortunately for me, looks cannot kill.

If they could, I would have just finished my last day on earth.

After glaring at me, she picked up her purse and stormed away without an additional word.

I looked at the manager who simply shook his head, laughed and returned to his office.

I stepped up the counter to place my order.

The young lady who had been extremely frightened only a moment ago gave me a smile and said, "Thank you!"

"Don’t worry about it." I said.

"You didn’t do anything wrong. She decided to take her frustrations out on you," I stated, "and that isn’t right."

I then placed my order for an iced tea which she paid for despite my protests.

Bad days.

We have all had them.

How do we deal with them?

As our journey through Lent continued, I thought about the kind of day Jesus had.

He was arrested.

His friends abandoned him.

He was mocked.

He was beaten.

He was made to carry His own cross.

He faced the cruelest form of execution - crucifixion.

As Jesus was crucified, He showed mercy to those who antagonized Him.

Luke 23:34 (NET) - But Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing." Then they threw dice to divide His clothes.

As Jesus endured this, a thief asked Jesus to remember him.

How did Jesus respond?

He showed him mercy as well!

Luke 23:43 (NET) - And Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Throughout this ordeal of pain and humiliation, the mercy, kindness and forgiveness Jesus showed remain without equal to this day.

As Easter draws ever nearer, we should be extremely grateful that His mercy, kindness and forgiveness are extended to us as well.

We should also take the time to ask ourselves a very important question.

If Jesus could forgive so very much under the most extreme of circumstances, shouldn’t we be willing to forgive others of so very little by comparison?


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, March 8, 2013.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, March 15, 2013.
Schedule subject to change.