A Royal Dose of Perspective

There I was, frantically scurrying to get my writing done, plus wash the dishes, do laundry, cook dinner, work out, and post on my website. I had just started a new job when I got called, of all things, for JURY DUTY. Now, for me, jury duty ranks right up there with getting a root canal or having my fingernails extracted one by one with pliers. NOT my idea of fun times.

 

But I went, thinking, "Oh, this will only take 1-2 hours, tops." That's what everyone had told me. Then I walked into a huge room at the Denton County Courthouse and I saw... about 300 people sitting there. Immediately, I thought, "Okay, maybe that's going to be 3 hours..." PLUS the hour drive there and the hour drive back home.

 

So... they called my name. I was in a smaller group of 45 people who had been - yes, specially hand-selected by either the prosecution or the defense to be interviewed for possible selection for a felony trial. Yowza. And, you guessed it - I got picked. Yep, only twelve people out of 300, and it was yours truly up there for three days. I ended up missing one of my writing-from-home days, plus two full days of work at my brand new job.

 

Now, I had a choice here. I could either have a human perspective, which, to be perfectly honest said, "This sucks." Or I could try to see this situation from God's perspective. I knew absolutely that God wanted me there. But it was a bit tough to let go of my schedule. I was planning for an important conference and had so much to do. 

 

Suddenly, this question reverberated through my mind: "CAN I MULTIPLY YOUR TIME?"

 

Totally foreign concept. I knew that this had to be from God.

 

"What, Lord?"

 

"CAN I MULTIPLY YOUR TIME?"

 

Gulp. "Yes, I guess you can. You're God, after all."

 

So I chilled out after that. There's a great Yiddish proverb that says, "Mann traoch, Gott lŠuch" (We plan, God laughs). So true.

 

I gave it my all. And being a juror ended up being serious business. As soon as I was picked, I saw why. It was a domestic violence case, and I ended up feeling so strongly about it. It felt shocking to be in a place where I was partly responsible for justice being served in the life of a battered wife and her children. Yet, as a follower of Christ, I also wanted to be balanced and gracious toward the defendant in hopes that God would change his life and help him to walk a better path.  

 

The trial turned out to be extremely eye-opening, rewarding, heartbreaking and touching, all at the same time. I met several amazing people and, in fact, I ended up being selected as the presiding juror. The Lord put words in my mouth and strength in my heart that I honestly did not know were there. It was truly Him speaking through me. I felt very pleased and relieved when we reached a unanimous decision after deliberating for only two hours. God multiplied my time, just as He had said He would. But I had to let Him.  

 

What's got you in a tizzy today? God may be asking you, "CAN I MULTIPLY YOUR TIME?" You should let Him. He's good at that.

 

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