More than Orange Juice

'His grace is sufficient' he said as he tossed the empty gallon of orange juice into the trash can. His grace is sufficient.

This morning, after the daily routine of cooking breakfast and serving the residents, the kitchen manager explained to the group of volunteer residents that God's grace is enough. Someone had sneaked into the pantry and helped himself to a gallon of orange juice. The manager explained to all the volunteers that this not only hurts others, but it hurts the thief even more.

This is the gist of what he said: 'When you go after whatever you want and disregard others, you end up in bad places. I know for a fact all of us ended up here because of bad decisions that we've made, but the good news is that we don't need all that other stuff. We know that God will provide even when it seems we have nothing. Because his grace is sufficient. I've been married for 30 years and since I've been in this program, I haven't been able to see my wife. But I know that it's worth it. I know God will provide. And I know that it will be better. It's a labor of love and it requires continual work, not just showing up for random days when you feel like it.'

Without knowing this man, I felt like I knew him. He had emptied his soul, because he was pretty sure that's all he had left. And he was willing to give it up for others.

"Wow." I thought to myself. He thought that he was addressing the group of residents that had worked hard to serve others that morning. But, no, he was certainly addressing me. It was my bad decisions that brought me here. No, I may not be living here like the other residents, but certainly my sin has made me realize that there is much more to this world than me. It's what brought me through those entrance doors. And I thank God for that. And I thank God that His grace IS enough. 

For so long, I haven't been able to forgive myself for where I've gone wrong. But now, I realize I will never be able to move on, to learn, and to help others until I forgive myself and allow God to forgive me. Everyone has done wrong, it's those that are able to stop and transform themselves that will be able to use the bad for good and impact others. And it's here in this place, that I learned that serving others, certainly has a bigger impact on the servant than on the ones being served. It is this transformation that makes a life good. To be able to serve the lowest and the highest man on the totem pole as your equal, because he is.