God and the Telemarketer

By Vonda Skelton –

You may not believe this, but I know it for a fact: God talks on the telephone.

Many years ago, I was putting together a talk on having a gentle spirit. As usual, I searched my concordance for appropriate verses and found many that applied to both men and women. But since I was preparing to speak to women, I typed this verse into my notes:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4

Then I wrote, “Ladies, we must pray earnestly and daily for a gentle and quiet spirit.” As one who doesn’t have a natural gentle-and-quiet-spirit-bone in my body, this admonition carried a powerful message.

I leaned back in my chair and gazed at the life-changing words I had just typed. The cursor blinked like a heartbeat on the screen. Then I prayed, “Oh, God, what do You want me to say next? What words of wisdom do you want me to share with these precious women?”

Right then, the phone rang.

Now I don’t know about you, but God had never called me on the telephone, so I didn’t take it as a welcomed interruption.

“Hello.”

“Is Gary Skeleton there?”

Grrrlll. A telemarketer. I could feel my blood pressure rising. In case you haven’t noticed, my name is Skel-ton, not Skel-e-ton. I didn’t even try to hide my frustration. “There’s no Gary Skeleton here!”

So she spelled it for me. “There’s no G-A-R-Y Skeleton there?”

“There are no skeletons in this house!” I yelled, and slammed down the phone. Grumble . . . grumble . . . grumble. How dare she call at this very moment, when I’m trying to hear from God?

My eyes refocused on the screen, and there, pulsating in rhythm to my heart, were the incriminating words, “Ladies, we must pray earnestly and daily for a gentle and quiet spirit.”

GULP.

I guess you could say God called me on the phone that day. He called to tell me I’d better keep praying–because I was a long way from achieving the spirit He was looking for!

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus says to come to Him because He is gentle and humble of heart. Gentle. Humble. Hmmm. I don’t know about you, but there are many times people would categorize me as anything BUT gentle and humble. In all honesty, there are times that words like selfish, self-centered, and know-it-all come to mind. When I sincerely look at my life and my attitudes, I’m saddened to see the many times I’m so far from gentle and humble.

Not exactly a picture of Jesus.

In this day of filling every moment with “stuff” and rushing here and there in an effort to get it all done, what does the world see (or hear) when they come in contact with us? Are we so busy looking out for number one that we miss the opportunity to be a gentle representation of Jesus?

Are we so busy trying to get our work noticed or published or paid for that we miss the divine appointments God has for us to be an encouragement to someone else?

Oh, how sad it would be to gain success in the eyes of the world…while tromping over the very ones God planned for us to reach! If we truly love Jesus and hope to point others to Him, we must take on His character. We must be gentle and humble.

When the heartaches come and the friends go; when the income is low and the outgo is high; when those we’ve been mentoring suddenly dash past us on the road to success, can we be gentle and humble and genuinely happy?

Yes, we can. Because we want to be like Jesus…gentle and humble in heart.

Vonda Skelton is a national speaker, freelance writer, and the author of four books, including Seeing Through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe and the Bitsy Burroughs Mysteries for kids. She is the owner of The Christian Writer’s Den Writing Blog, founder of the Christian Communicators Conference, co-director of the NCompass Writing Retreat, co-owner of SCW Productions, and co-director of the Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival Intern Program.. Vonda and Gary have been married 42 years—and they’re still happy about it! http://www.vondaskelton.com/.