Out of the Two comes One: Part Twelve

Sometimes my two worlds collide. Sometimes they explode into and upon one another. And sometimes they overlap to the point of blurring. There are times when, at the very last minute, just before you’re ready to go 10-42—end of shift—something will happen and the entire rest of your day is shot. 

The same is true in the ministry. There are times when you are just settling in to enjoy the evening; or you’ve just gotten into bed when the phone rings, and everything you had planned just got pushed to the side. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a complaint but it is a fact. 

It is when we stop and realize the reasons for which we endure the trials of life that really give us, or reveal to us, the value of the time we have spent. When I am called upon to work late or deal with a particularly trying event, a family or individual in crisis, it is then that I see what value I can possibly be to that situation that adds life to me. When I can bring a peaceful resolution to a family or direct a soul to those peaceful green pastures that David wrote about in Psalm 23, then all the trouble seems very much worth it. 

We cannot avoid the troubles and trials of life, but we do get to decide if we will be made by them or if they will destroy us. In the end, when my two worlds collide, I am left with the choice of whether I will be the cop who’s a preacher or a preacher that’s a cop. Either way, the choice is mine and I choose life. Think about it….Just saying.