OWL EYES
"To obey is better than sacrifice." I Samuel 15:22

       Being raised in an orphanage, I always figured I had to survive by my wits. After all, I reasoned, it's the world against Lenore. When I grew up and married and had children, I knew I should teach them right from wrong. But the idea that the world was against me never really left me.

      That belief brought me to the dilemma I had to face many years later, a story I am embarrassed to tell. A few years before I became a Christian I was shopping for supplies to make a macrame owl. I happened to be in a store in Corona called TG&Y. I found the ceramic owl eyes I needed and noticed that the price was $3.00 instead of $1.50. I mumbled, "What a rip-off! How can they double the price? I'm not going to pay $3.00 for a $1.50 item. Those crooks!" I was so mad, I took the package of owl eyes and stuck them in my purse and walked out. When I got to the car I thought, I can't believe I did that! I'll go put it back. But what if someone sees me opening my purse and call the manager?  I could not bring myself to go back in the store for fear of being caught. So, even though I was ashamed, I drove home and put the whole incident out of my mind.

      About two years later my daughter died and I cried out to God for help to cope with my loss. Soon I became a Christian and learned to communicate with God. I loved to talk to God and wait for His direction each day.  One morning, as I knelt by my bed during my prayer time, The Lord said, "I want you to go to TG&Y and pay for the owl eyes you stole." "But God, I can't do that. I am too embarrassed to go back to that store." I hurried out to tend the flowers. Each morning after that I didn't ask God to talk to me. I said my prayers and didn't wait for any answers.

      About a week later, while I was praying, the Lord said, "You can go no further with me until you obey what I told you to do."  "All right, Lord. I'll go to TG&Y." I dressed and put a scarf on my head, hoping no one would recognize me and drove up to Corona, which is twenty miles from where I lived in Wildomar, California. I parked the car and sat there trembling. A wave of guilt and fear swept over me and I just couldn't go in the store. I drove back home. I felt miserable.

      A few days later R.J. and I were having lunch at Denny's across the street from TG&Y store in Corona. As we were leaving the restaurant R.J. said, "Would you like to go shopping at TG&Y?" Startled, I snapped, "No, I don't want to go shopping at TG&Y!" I thought, God, You told him to say that , didn't You? You know he hates to go shopping. R.J. said, "What are you mad about? I was just trying to be nice."  "I want to go home. I don't feel good." The next day we went to visit Vickie and Harold, some friends who liver over near Perris. While we were there, a neighbor came in and said he wanted to read some Scriptures. Opening his Bible, he read the story about Zaccheus, a tax collector who had stolen from the people. When Zaccheus met Jesus he was ashamed and said he would pay back four times what he had stolen. On our way home, I thought, God arranged the visit by the neighbor to get my attention.

      The next morning I made the decision to go to the store and get it over with; God was not letting me off the hook until I obeyed Him. With determination, I drove to the store and marched right in. I went up to a man and asked to speak to the manager. "I am the manager," he said.  I began telling him, "A while back, before I became a Christian, I stole a package of ceramic owl eyes from your store. I want to pay what I owe. I read in the Bible about Zaccheus, a tax collector who stole from the people. But when he met Jesus, he was ashamed and said he'd pay back four times what he had stolen."  The manager became very nervous and said, "How much were the owl eyes?" "Three dollars. But I want to pay back four times that amount." The manager rang up three dollars plus tax and waited for me to give him the money. I wouldn't give him the money until I finished telling him the story of Zaccheus. "Just give me the three dollars plus tax, all right?"  I could tell he wanted me to give him the money and hurry up and leave. It did cross my mind that perhaps God wanted that manager to hear the story of Zaccheus.

      After I left the store, I felt relieved and drove home singing. I had, at last obeyed what God told me to do. I knew I was, once again, right with God.