The Refrigerator Box
“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” - Psalm 37:3
That refrigerator box is home to someone. I walked by the frayed edges of cardboard protruding into the second lane of sidewalk. A pair of rubber soled feet splayed out the box’s opening, and I glanced away, hoping to preserve a scrap of privacy for the box’s inhabitant. The box takes up space in my brain for a long time, longer than the fine houses I drive past on the richest streets of the city.
Seeing one homeless man draws to my mind the multitudes of those hurting because of the evil in our world. Soon the broken families, the orphans, the refugees, the cheated and the scammed are all stuffed inside that refrigerator box in my head. I feel guilty. And suddenly, I’ve made everything about me.
Why me, God? Why do I have so much, and others have so little? Why am I not in pain when so many others feel dead inside? The guilt hammers against my skull in a relentless crescendo.
I found redirection this week in Psalm 37. If you too get overwhelmed with the world’s darkness and long for some kind of justice for oppression, I’d highly recommend reading it. Through its assurance that God will bring justice, there is also a thread that reminds me to stay in my own lane. Keep my eyes on my own paper. Take the life I’ve been granted and use it, without turning it into some kind of self-centered navel gazing that results in my rejection of God’s gift.
Verse 3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” For one reason or another, I have been granted a very safe pasture for this season. God has given me permission to enjoy it, share it, and treat it like the very precious gift that it is. My circumstances do not make me better, worse, or more loved by God. I may never know why it’s not me who is sleeping in a refrigerator box on the street. But what’s the point in wondering when there is work to be done and God has plans for me and my life? We are not sinning when we pause to enjoy our safe pastures – rather, we’re glorifying God. Trust Him, and do good with all you’ve been given.