(Im)perfect Submission

(Im)perfect Submission

I don’t expect to lose, do you? I don’t expect to be robbed of possessions, relationships, health, time, investments, or treasure. I expect what is mine will stay mine. But my expectations, I’m learning, are misguided.

Last week I filed a police report for stolen property. I answered various questions on the form. Was the value of the stolen property between $0 and $5,000? It was. Closer to $0, but yes, it was. Was it jewelry, a car, machinery, art, a bicycle, emeralds, rubies, or diamonds? (These were my choices. I’m not kidding.) And it wasn’t. It was far more humble than that.

Lately, I’ve been visited by a plant thief. Plants I’ve nurtured and coaxed into bloom have begun disappearing from my front porch. It’s a strange feeling to walk out on your porch with a watering can in the morning and wonder where your tended crop of beauty has gone. It’s equally strange to imagine someone stealing from you less than one hundred feet from where you sleep.

In the wake of this weird rash of theft, God wove two more unexpected occurrences. First, I was robbed of a parking place in my neighborhood supermarket. The parking thief whipped around the corner from where I sat waiting for a slower-than-molasses shopper to back out of the spot I expected to take. I rolled down my window and stared at him. He didn’t say, “Sorry.” He looked right at me and said, “Too bad,” then left me fuming because that spot was mine.

Later I chanced to meet a friend—Tom—who lives and works at a children’s camp in Nigeria. He caught me up on his time Stateside and reminded me that he’d been in Africa for five years. Remembering his original commitment was for two years, I asked if he planned to stay indefinitely. He laughed and said, “I don’t have anything left here. I’ve given it all away.”

When he said that, smiling, I realized he couldn’t possibly be the victim of theft. He didn’t have anything he expected to keep, anything he’d permanently stamped with the word mine. And I realized he was a very, very rich man indeed.

Thank you, plant thief, rude grocery shopper, and Tom, for helping me slowly perfect my oh-so-imperfect submission.

If you give up your life for me, you will find it.

Matthew 10:39