12-2-2014

Good Morning All,

          1Timothy 2:1; “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people”

      I was visiting with one of the area school superintendents and offering my empathy to him for one of the toughest tasks that he has; deciding whether to cancel school because of the weather, start school late because of the weather or just go as scheduled.  This is one of the “no-win” situations.  Someone will always think the decision you made was wrong.  Of course some of this “wisdom” gets offered after the fact.  They may see that the forecast was wrong and that, later in the afternoon, the decision to call off school, made at 6:00 am, was premature.  I would not want that job.

   I started to think of other jobs that I am not sure I would want.  I remember a local fire chief who said how much he hated accident calls at 8:00 am.  “It is highly possible to be a school kid driving to school and that I will know them.”  He didn’t like those prospects and I don’t know that I would either.  I thought of the young nurse’s aides who work long and thankless hours in our nursing homes and hospitals; I don’t know if I could do that job.  I thought of someone who answers suicide prevention hotlines and the pressure on them to have the right answer at the spur of a moment.

    There are a lot of jobs out there that I don’t think I could handle.  There are some very stressful jobs; jobs that require decisions that can, and often do, impact hundreds to thousands to millions of people.  I don’t think I would enjoy that job.  There are jobs that are very dangerous but very necessary for the general safety of society; we need them but I am thankful I don’t have to do them.  That is what I was thinking when I opened my bible and found this verse.

   “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” When you think of those jobs and tasks that need to be done but that you just don’t think you could ever do them; pray for those individuals who do them.  Pray for those people to whom God has given the vocations that you and I would not like to do.  Some are dangerous, some are stressful, some are emotional draining and taxing but all are jobs that I am thankful that I do not have to perform.  I am thankful that God enables someone to do these tasks and we should all pray for them.  We should pray that God will send his Spirit to help them withstand the stress and the strain that these jobs can exert on someone’s life, relationships, health and general wellbeing. 

   I remember was wag saying that he prays for our elected leaders; twice as hard for those he didn’t vote for.  Perhaps, when we see a job or task being performed that we are thankful we aren’t performing; we should say an extra prayer of thanks for the ones who do.

Father, thank you for all those people who do the tasks that I cannot.  Keep them safe, keep them strong under the stress, keep them in your loving arms as they serve as your hands in this world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret