God Tapped Me on the Shoulder

Have you ever had God tap you on the shoulder?  He did that with me yesterday.  Not literally, of course, but he did it just the same.

Yesterday morning, as I was leaving for church, I decided to stop by QT (gas station/convenience store) to get some tea (they have the best ice and several flavors of fresh brewed iced tea).  I wasn't in the best of moods because I was feeling a bit hungry, but didn't want to eat because knew I'd be meeting some friends after church for lunch.  Plus, I while I was looking forward to seeing my friends, I was looking forward to the place we were going and spending that amount of money.

Of course I dealt with a couple of bad drivers in the short trip to QT so that made my mood even grumpier.

When I arrived and parked, I saw a man outside the door asking people for money...I didn't want to deal with it so I hurried past him as he was engaged with someone else and he wasn't able to ask me.

While I was getting my tea, I heard a man behind me
"Excuse Me?"

Oh no I thought, he has followed me inside to ask me for money.  I don't want to give him money (I prefer giving to charities to help people in need and not give to people directly).

Again, I heard behind me
"Excuse Me?"

I admit it, I pretended I didn't hear him because I knew he was just going to ask for money and I would have to say "Sorry".  I was holding a $5.00 bill in my hand to pay for the tea so I couldn't tell him "I don't have any cash"

Again, the man says, kindly and quietly,
"Excuse Me?"

Know that he was not going to give up, I couldn't keep pretending that I didn't hear him so I turned around.

It was NOT the man I had seen outside, it was a different man, who appeared to not speak English well.  He pointed to the ground.

I looked down and he was trying to let me know that I had dropped my ATM/Debit card.  He was doing a GOOD deed, even though I was pretending I didn't  hear him - he persisted.

Boy was that a lesson...here this nice man was trying to help me and I was ignoring him because I though he was going to ask for money.  I felt like I was shrinking, like when Fred Flintsone is humiliated

Then I thought...what if it was the other guy that was standing there asking for money...I obviously had $5.00 I could have given him and wouldn't helping someone in need (even if they were not really in need but asking anyway) be better than me spending $1.00 for a cup of tea?

It was like God telling me....look, not everyone is out to get you or scam you and even though you are in a sour mood, some nice person took extra time to help you today.

I thanked the man so much for telling me about my dropped card (but not sure he understood me) and proceeded to make my purchase.  When I left, the man outside had walked away but had he been there and asked for money, I would have given him the other $4 I had. 

I am grateful to that nice man for telling me about my card, it could have been really bad if someone else had found it.

Sometimes God gets our attention in subtle ways and other times, he taps you on the shoulder.