Punxsutawney Phil has outdone his little groundhog self this year, hasn't he? Seems like this winter has dragged on forever.

As I was driving around on a particularly frigid and windy day, I spotted a thin young woman on the side of the road begging. As Jesus said in Mark 14:7 (and in other places), there are always poor folks around, and it's not unusual to see homeless men, and occasionally women, on Houston street corners, holding up signs or washing windshields. This young lady caught my attention because she was wearing knee length pants in the bitterly cold wind.

I had just finished cleaning out my recently deceased mother's closets,and happened to be carrying in my back seat several bags of freshly-washed clothing I was planning to donate to the Salvation Army. In one of those bags were some barely worn womens' coats, perfect for this weather and just the right size for the slim girl. I parked out of sight and selected a lined, waterproof windbreaker. I know it was warm because it was almost identical to the one I was wearing, except it was much plainer. It was a medium brown, with no fancy buttons or collar, something that wouldn't attract unwanted attention on a street person.

I drove back around the block to her corner and asked her if she needed a jacket, and she said yes. Up close, I could see that the fleece hoodie she wore was threadbare and holy, and she didn't seem to have anything underneath it, so I was thankful I could offer her something she really needed. But when I held out the jacket, she kind of sneered at it and said, “Oh, no thanks. I need something warm.”

In my opinion, anything would be warmer than what she had on, so I opened up the jacket so she could see the lining and assured her that it was very warm. Craning her neck to look into my car, the girl shook her head again, then pointed to a sweater that was balled up on the floorboard. “What about that?”

The sweater was several years out of date, stretched out of shape and missing two buttons, and one corner of it was coming unraveled. I had planned on taking it home for my cat to sleep on.

“It's not in very good shape,” I warned her, holding it up so she could see it.

The girl snatched it as if I had been trying to hold out on her, and said, “Yeah, this is better.”

She then asked me for money, and when I didn't give her any, she walked away in disgust, still clutching the sorry excuse for a sweater.

I guess she just felt more comfortable with something that was familiar, even though it was far inferior. It would at least offer a little protection from the cold, but I was sad that she rejected the better coat.

How often does God feel the same way, when people reject His best and settle for garbage, believing the garbage is better because it's familiar and comfortable? I wonder how many times even I, as a believer, miss God's will because I refuse to leave my comfort zone? God's way is so much better than anything the world has to offer, but we have become so accustomed to the selfishness and greed and violence and immorality that bombard us every day in our schools and workplaces and entertainment that we accept it as “normal”, forgetting that God has a higher standard that will result in greater joy.

God,forgive me for all the times I think I know better than You, and end up with ashes instead of Your perfect will for me!

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.         Isaiah 55:8 -9