Have you ever robbed someone of a blessing?

It was in the summer of 1991. I remember it so well. I'd just gotten out of the hospital. I'd been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and I'd almost lost my right leg. The orthopedic surgeon told my family I was lucky he'd been on call. He was the best Orthopedist in Northeast Georgia. Instead of losing my leg to amputation, he'd been able to put it back together with 5 steel rods and an external fixator. Yes, he was very good at what he did, but I know God had orchestrated many events during that year and I'm going to tell you about a few of them.

I'm pretty stubborn and even though I was in a wheelchair, I tried to do everything myself. (At that time, I was divorced with 4 young children.) Life was really hard but I wasn't about to give up. Little did I know it, but God was about to teach me a valuable lesson in pride.

We lived in the country about an hour away from any close family and while I did the best I could, it was difficult not having a car and not being able to drive. Day in and day out, I'd roll around in my wheelchair trying to take care of the children and the housework. My oldest child, a son, was almost 16 at the time. He did what he could to help but he had highschool and friends. I didn't want to have to need him, but I did. He shouldered a lot more responsibility than he should have at that young age because he knew I was limited in my physical abilities. I relied on him a lot. He did the yard work, dishes by hand, helped with laundry, and helped with the younger children. But try as he might, he just couldn't do all I needed him to do.

The girls helped too. I had three daughters, the youngest at the time was almost 2 years old. Girls are a little more domestic and my oldest daughter was such a big help. She did the things I couldn't ask my son to do...like bathe her little sister. (Our house wasn't wheelchair accessible and I couldn't get through the doors.)

Preparing meals was difficult too. I barely could reach the kitchen counters from my seated position. Often times, I'd have to call on one of the children to reach things for me and through teamwork, we made things happen.

There were complications after surgery. I got a staph infection and was in a lot of pain. My leg wasn't healing and there was no bone growth. Monthly visits to the surgeon were stressful and he was honest in his concerns. If my leg didn't start to heal, I might indeed lose it. My circulation was so bad that my foot was a dark bluish black. I was worried.

It was a very difficult time for all of us and many nights I went to bed in tears. I was in a lot of physical pain although I tried my best to hide if from the children. I cried over the things I couldn't do. I wept for my children and for the responsibilities they were carrying. I prayed an awful lot, especially for our financial situation, which was non-existent. At first I felt like all of my prayers were just bouncing off the ceiling but then things started happening.

We were members of a tiny little country church called Harmony Hall Baptist Church. The people there were loving and kind. We'd been members there before the accident happened and had been regular attenders. After the accident, I was unable to drive us to the services so I called the church one afternoon. I knew we needed to be spiritually fed. I told the preacher about our predicament. We had a very long conversation. Before we hung up, he offered to have his wife come pick us up for services on Sunday morning. I was so thankful!

Before Sunday rolled around, I heard a knock at the door one morning. When I opened it, there was no one there but on the steps was a large box of food. I had no idea who had brought it to us, but we were desperately in need and very grateful!

The next day, I received a phone call. When I answered the call, a man's voice told me that he was going to pay our electric bill for the next year. I thought it was a prank call and as I was about to hang up, the gentleman said, "I'm not going to reveal my name, but I am telling you the truth. I will pay your electricity for one year. God has told me to do this." I could barely believe my ears and as I hung up, I wondered if it was really true...the following month, I found out he had been telling the truth. The day our power bill was due, I didn't have money to pay it. I called the power company to make arrangements and was told I didn't need to worry about it. There was a large credit placed on our account and it would cover our bill for the next 12 months!

God continued to bless us during my recovery period with material gifts like that. Members of our church blessed us with homemade meals and transportation to events for the children. Baseball uniforms were purchased and team dues were paid. Christmas gifts were provided. God did so much for us...more than we could have ever imagined, and then He sent Mrs. Inez.

Mrs. Inez was a widow in our church. She must have been in her late seventies or early eighties. She was a petite woman and very frail. She lived alone and enjoyed her independence. She drove a big 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Everyone in the church knew her car because it was so big and long. I always wondered how she could see over the dashboard when she drove because she was so small.

One day, Mrs. Inez pulled up into my driveway. The children were at school and I was there alone. When she rang the doorbell, I rolled my wheelchair over to answer it. Mrs. Inez stood there in her little sweater and plaid skirt. She looked so prim and proper. In her soft but shaky voice, she said "Hello, I'm here to mop your floor." My mouth must have dropped open as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After I'd processed it, I let her in and said, "Mrs. Inez, it's so nice to see you. I understand you want to mop my floor but I can't let you do that. Why don't we just sit in here and visit a little while?" She looked at me and didn't say anything for a few minutes, then she said, again, "I've come to mop your floor." I'm sure I looked surprised when I told her my floor was "just fine and didn't need mopping." She came in and I motioned for her to take a seat on the sofa. I kept talking and trying to think of interesting things to share with her and keep her mind off of the mopping. We visited and talked for about thirty minutes. Suddenly she stood up and began to walk toward the door. I noticed how tiny she was and how her back was bent from aging. She turned to look at me and when she did, I saw the tears in her eyes. I wondered what in the world was wrong. I thought we'd had a nice visit. She looked at me intensely and said in a determined tone, "Today God told me to come and mop your floor. You have robbed me of a blessing." Her hand opened the door and she went out. Before she shut the door, her words hit me like a ton of bricks. What was I thinking? I'd prayed and asked God to provide help for us. He'd heard and honored my prayers by sending groceries, meals, transportation, and even an old lady to mop my floor. I'd never heard of robbing someone of a blessing before...had I really robbed her?

I watched as Mrs. Inez pulled out of my driveway. Suddenly, I felt so ashamed. Mrs. Inez was a godly woman. I knew she devoted much time to prayer and studying the Word of God. If God had spoken to her heart and told her specifically to come and mop my floor, who was I to deny her that privilege? I realized in that instant that I had been very prideful. I hadn't wanted Mrs. Inez to mop my floor because I was afraid of her inability to do so. I hadn't been worried about this little old lady slipping and falling. I hadn't given one thought to how she would manage to pick up the heavy bucket filled with water or how she'd be able to wring the mop. My concerns were all about me. I didn't want Mrs. Inez to see my dirty floor, the one that hadn't been mopped in months since my accident. There was a lot of dirt on that floor with four children tracking in and out several times a day.

To this day, I'll never forget the sight of poor Mrs. Inez with her head hung low and tears in her eyes walking out my front door. I'll never forget the words she spoke, "...you've robbed me of a blessing." I was a thief. I'd taken away a blessing that God wanted to give her by honoring her obedience. Who did I think I was?

If only I'd met her at the door and agreed to let her mop my floor...we'd both have received a blessing. I would have had a shiny, clean floor and she would have received God's blessing, too, for doing as she'd been told.

It's been 24 years since Mrs. Inez came to visit me. I can hear her words echo in my heart like they were yesterday. What a valuable lesson God taught me that day and one I'll never forget. To this day, if someone offers to do something for me, I happily agree. I don't ever want to be accused of robbing someone of a blessing again.

The Bible says in James 2:16-17 "And one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]." Mrs. Inez put her faith into action. How about you? Do you practice what you preach?

God works in mysterious ways and you never know when He's going to answer your prayers by sending someone to do something you'd never expect. Be on the lookout...His angels are everywhere, and sometimes they're driving 1969 Delta Olds 88s.

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