On Tips and Salons... Butt Kissing Or Sincere?


I love to give tips. Well, love is a strong word; I guess I mean if I’m served really well, I feel good leaving a nice tip.
When I have the money, I get generous… Thus the next time I’m back at that place, i.e. a salon, everyone is loving me, and everyone is ‘auntying’ me and I get a not so subtle preferential treatment. There's also the embarrassing arguments amongst the girls on who's to make my hair or handle my pedicure and ridiculous stuff like that, with the truckload of compliments.
The butt kissing is appalling, even as much as I enjoy it, but I’m certainly not deceived; thus it’s easy for me to separate the genuine from the butt kissers.

Whenever I can only afford to tip sparingly with an apologetic smile or not at all cos my purse is emptied out, the butt kissers are not so excited or eager to kiss butt when I come the next time... I take note and sometimes, I happily tip those I notice as sincerely genuine and polite even when they don’t render me any service for that day. I do this because they look like they really are glad to see me and it doesn’t matter if I did or didn’t leave a tip for the beautiful hair they made the last time I was in.

I think serving God is somewhat similar. We give Him all the compliments and praise, expecting a generous tip from Him for this service. The more He tips, the more we praise Him and scramble to cater to His needs. But like a broke customer, if He fails to give us our desires, or in the Nigerian lingo, drop something generously after days of fasting and night vigils, our true colors and the truth of our praise and worship in revealed. We either keep smiling while praising Him and auntying Him, giving Him the best of us, or we push Him aside, ignore Him when He walks in and move to a customer who we presume will tip us, because butt kissing can only last so long.

It’s easy to stop praising and trusting and praying and worshiping when we don’t get answered prayers and when events of life hurts us, because we wonder why He would let us go through it all if He really loves us.
But in moments like this, moments when the tone of our praise starts changing, we need to ask ourselves questions “Is our service out of genuine love, trust and awe of God or out of what we need and what we’re able to get from Him?”
If you lost it all today would you still praise? Though He slays you, will you still praise? If the tips are sparing, will you still praise?

Paul Adefarasin said "Your relationship with God should not be based on what He can do, but on who He is."
In the same way, If I have any business in a high end store, I dress the part, hold something visibly designer and expensive, I do this to get attention, I do this to avoid being snubbed! Yeah, you do it too... And it works, even if I'm wasting their time, because I look like I can afford their products. If I walk in there with all the money in the world and just a simple outfit and a label free bag, i wouldn't get that attention. sometimes we loose out on deals and relationships because we judge based on what a person can do from their appearance and not from who we discern them to be after giving them a chance. Don't limit God to what He can do, or what he's done and what He hasn't done... He is God, that's all the reason we need to praise even when the cherry trees don't blossom.
Though the cherry trees don’t blossom
and the strawberries don’t ripen,
Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty,
I’m singing joyful praise to God.
I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
I feel like I’m king of the mountain! Habakkuk 3:17-19

Comments

  1. Inyamu, I just nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. You can read more details on my blog : http://www.therelentlessbuilder.com/2013/07/liebster-blog-award-courtesy-of-vegan.html

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  2. Love your write up, so true and deep.

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  3. God help me to praise him all the time for who he his and not what he does...amen

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  4. Awww...She's gone and done it again!Your profound allusions and timeless lessons leave me feeling refreshed,inspired,revitalised and exhilarated(yeah,all of that)always.
    God bless you!
    I sure count you when I count my blogsville blessings

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  5. This means a lot to me where I am now. God bless you dear

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