Stepping into the Light

Sometimes we have frustrating experiences with utility suppliers and other companies with which we do business. Then, when we can't seem to get a company's customer service rep to help us, we often fall victim to the temptation to scream and cuss and otherwise behave badly.

Cussing out customer service reps rarely works, though, if ever. I've found that calm resolve is the most successful tack when faced with reluctant customer service.

Several years ago, I'd turned off the expensive gas heat in my home for all but two hours of the winter, using a collection of cheaper to run electric heaters instead. Still, I wound up with a gas bill for several hundred dollars. Obviously, the meter had been misread at some point, but several gas company customer service people insisted that I owed the money. They didn't care how I begged for the exercise of reason, or how I fumed or fussed. I even offered to send them copies of my electric bills to prove how I'd been heating my home. My calls continued for days.

Finally, I got a supervisor on the line and changed my approach. Calmly and quietly I listened to her, and then I simply said, "I understand exactly what you are saying and I truly understand why you are saying it. However, I did not use the gas except during the hours of one-thirty-five on and three-thirty-five on Thanksgiving Day. I cannot pay you because I do not owe you."

We went back and forth for literally an hour and a half. Each time the supervisor repeated her story, I listened quietly and then placidly repeated my truth. Finally, I told her "I could not forgive myself if I paid you when I know it's wrong." I was dead serious but she had to laugh.

She said, "Ma'am I'm going to take all but the twelve dollar minimum monthly charge for keeping the gas connected off your bill. Will that make you happy?"

I won not just because I was right but because I was honest and my behavior was right.

My story was right back when I was acting in anger, but when I spoke to the supervisor I revealed my soul and spoke in love.

Sometimes the wait for answered prayer is even more frustrating than my ordeal with that gas company. But when our prayers seem to be unanswered, we need to think about how we are approaching heaven. Are we calmly and consistently stating our case and do our requests line up with God's will?

God will not move because of our emotions, but He will move for genuine praises and our repetition of His truth.

Unlike my gas company customer service agents, God wants me to be happy. So when I ask for help in the right way, if He laughs it is from joy.