The Cost

Yesterday I had a conversation with someone and this morning I continued to have it in my head. This morning, while I was having said conversation, the Holy Spirit dropped five words into my heart....You don't know the cost. That's it! You don't know the cost. 

We complain about someone, usually a preacher we don't like, because they fly first class instead of coach.....you don't know the cost.

We complain because "they" drive a nicer car than we do.....you don't know the cost.

We complain when people we KNOW aren't perfect get blessed.....you don't know the cost. 

 

We, as Christians, complain an awful lot about others being blessed.....you don't know the cost. 

We recently met a man who has diamond status with the airline that he flys. He frequently gets bumped to business class and, even better, first class. I found myself a little, OK, a lot, jealous. "God," I thought, "why don't Brett and I ever get bumped?" Rabbit trail warning!! Brett and I needed to fly to Baton Rouge for an interview with the ministry that we are hoping to become a part of. Having flown with American for several years, we had miles that we could use. So! When Brett booked our seats we were on....wait for it....the first row! This was a puddle jumper, so it wasn't first class, just the first row. We have never been at the front of any plane! Here we were, enjoying the extra leg room of the front row, when the stewardess asked for a volunteer to move to the back of the plane to even out the plane. It became obvious that the two fellas on the opposite side of the aisle were not going to move, so Brett went to the very last row of the plane. Bumped backwards! I guess that's why this hit me a little hard....end rabbit trail.

As the person continued to talk about getting bumped to first/business class, I began to hear the "you don't know the cost" part of the story. This person flys more than 200,000 miles a year. He flys to every country that they are in to speak with country directors. He flys to churches all over to talk about and raise money for the ministry. He flys a lot! Now, do you want to know what the cost is? He is married and his wife doesn't travel with him because she taking care of the ministry and their three children. Do you want to know the cost? His time with his children is probably about 1/4 of the time you get to spend with yours. 

You see, what we don't see when we are judging others and how God blesses their lives, is the cost that they are paying. We're not seeing the years of flying in coach and not complaining. We're not seeing the time spent before the Lord to preach that sermon. We're not seeing how many times they got a phone call in the middle of the night to go to the hospital for a birth or a death. We're not seeing the hardships that they endured planting a church and only having 20 people in the first service.

So, the next time you want to judge whether or not that person deserves that blessing they're telling you about, remember these five words....

You. Don't. Know. The. Cost