Can’t Cope With That – Part 2
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. – 1 Peter 4:7 NKJV.
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. – Isaiah 26:3 NKJV.
Melodi Dushane had a “can’t cope with that” moment back on New Years Day. It was early in the morning about 6:00am on January 1 of 2010 when Melodi lost it at a Toledo, Ohio McDonald’s drive thru window. According to reports at this particular McDonalds, the drive thru is open 24-hours a day. However, they do stop serving the dinner menu and switch over to the breakfast menu at 2:30am. This is where Melodi had an issue with them, because she wanted her McNuggets and they refused to give them to her. She attacked the McDonald’s workers through the drive thru window eventually breaking out the window, and they attacked her trying to pull her through the window by her hair.
Dushane was arrested, charged and convicted of vandalism, given 60 days jail time, three years of probation supervision, and a $1500 fine. Maybe it is just the McNuggets, because in Ft Pierce, Florida in March of 2010 a woman called 911 three times complaining about not getting her McNuggets. That woman was charged with misusing 911.
Few of us will ever be upset enough about our food order to lash out in anger at the restaurant employees or call 911 to complain about it. Let me rephrase that, few of us will ever lash out to the extent that we have our names all over the newspapers, TV, and Internet because of our anger over a food order. I have seen many unhappy people in restaurants, because of their food order, and I have been a little unhappy about my food order before too. One time in particular I remember, although it was more hilarious than anything. We had waited for about an hour for my order when it was finally served. It was not what I had ordered, but I agreed for it to be substituted. As the server was placing my order on the table she commented, “The smell of your food is making me sick!” On the other side, I have seen many food service workers treated terribly by those that they were serving.
Isn’t it amazing that we can become so enraged by such really little things? Of course, the little things that cause us to have our “can’t cope with that” moments are usually only the tip of the iceberg. Things have been building up in the lives of most people prior to their reaching the point where they actually “lose it” by lashing out at those around them. How do we keep it from happening? How do we avoid those “can’t cope with that” moments? It is helpful to keep things in perspective, and the apostle Peter is speaking to that when he writes, “…the end of all things is at hand.” The world may not end tomorrow, but none of us know how long we have to live. In the great realm of living, dying, and eternity is that little thing that someone just did really of enough importance to “lose it”?
Peter also says that we should “be serious” in our prayers. There are more serious things, much more important things going on in life than not getting the order we wanted, or the Chicken McNuggets. Not only should we “delight” in the Word of God – we should also be praying seriously, watchfully, everyday about everything and everyone in our lives.
Finally, to avoid those “can’t cope with that” moments we should focus in upon our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:3). He should be the focus in our lives, every minute, every hour; our minds should be “stayed” on Him. If we do that, we will be able to laugh off those little inconveniences of life or even big ones, because we will be kept in “perfect peace.”
(In the great realm of living, dying, and eternity is that little thing that someone just did really of enough importance to “lose it”?)