Jesus, I ordered a burger not a slider

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Her burger was a little less impressive.

I had a wonderful this evening this past Thursday.  My date and I enjoyed a meal at a restaurant in New Haven and then spent some great time exploring the boat harbor of Milford.  I am really thankful that the Lord blessed me with such a great time.  God truly does care about our dolls.

After spending some time perusing the menu, my date and I ordered our meals.  I ordered a pizette (a small pizza) and she ordered a hamburger.  When the waitress brought us our meals, we were both very surprised.  While the pizette was a good sized portion, the hamburger was a little bit larger than a half dollar and was on an English muffin.  This was not the impressive burger that she and I were expecting.  I saw my date's surprised face and I felt that internal sense of panic that all men feel when they think the evening has become an awkward story that their date will tell her friends later.  Lord, really?  Where's the big "j/k" and "lol" from heaven?

She handled the situation gracefully.  She enjoyed her burger, did not complain at all and was very reassuring. We both agreed that the situation was rather funny.  "I ordered a burger, not a slider," she joked.  We both laughed and continued our conversation.  "Phew," I thought.  "Thank God she's a good sport."

I was talking with my date later on and she asked me if I was going to blog about the experience.  My masculine pride wanted to hide the burger crisis of 2011.  I mean, how would that "true story" go?  "I was blessed with a dinner with a wonderful woman and her hamburger had performance anxiety."  After a few moments of consideration, I realized that with a little more discernment, insight and obsessive compulsive over analysis, I could find a spiritual implication for her skinny cow burger.

"I ordered a burger, not a slider."  I think I have said the same thing to Jesus several times in my life.  There are times I ask the Lord to bless me with an opportunity to serve.  As a speaker and a worship leader, I am secretly implying that I want an opportunity to speak at a church service or lead a worship song.  The Lord is faithful to answer my prayer, so He has assigned me various tasks that I did not expect.  "Sure, Stephen.  I want you to serve me by greeting guests at church and handing them their bulletins.  After that, I am going to assign you to your community's prayer team, where you will never receive recognition but you will spend time with me interceding for the children that I love so dearly.  After that, I want you to bless your mother and start fixing things around the house."  My reaction?  "Jesus, I ordered a burger, not a slider."

I recall Paul who says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).  This verse does not allow preference for the means by which serve, it only allows for obedience to the Lord as holy sacrifices.  The Lord will give us what we need to bless Him and to bless others.  If God hands you a slider, take a lesson from my date.  Enjoy your experience, do not complain and be reassured that God is in control.  Now that's a true story.