I could have, but...

Have you ever had an opportunity to help someone but didn't? Or maybe you had the intent to help, but something else kept you from doing it? I know that both of those times have happened to me.

Just last week a terrible rainstorm rolled in while I was at the grocery store and unfortunately, my umbrella was in the car. Observing the other people waiting in the store, I wasn't the only one who had this problem. As I ran to my car and unloaded my groceries the thought occurred to me that I should help the ladies with little kids, who were standing in the doorway waiting for the storm to pass, to their car. Did I follow that prompting? No. Not because I didn't want to, but because it would have been difficult explaining myself and what I was trying to do (language barrier excuse), because I would be late in picking up Kayley from her tutoring lesson (time excuse) or because they might have thought I was just strange (no real excuse). As I drove off, I knew I had missed an opportunity to help someone.

Proverbs 3:27 says, "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." There are many things I could say about this verse, but I think a poem I came across last week reinforces it better than I could.

"The Sin of Omission" by Margaret E. Sangster

It isn't the thing you do, dear
It's the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way;
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
With troubles enough of your own.

Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
Which we poor mortals find -
They come in night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.

For life is all too short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too later;
And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.

The poet didn't mention passing out umbrellas or offering to help during a rainstorm, but I'm sure that fits the category. I pray that I'm more sensitive and obedient to the leading of the Spirit the next time an opportunity arises and not be found guilty of the sin of omission.

How about you?