Santa's Coming...Have You Been Good?

I’m a field service technician for a company that builds and maintains banking machines.  The week before Christmas has been really rough for me.  Actually things have been going completely wrong.  At one account we have had two machines go completely bonkers to the point that we have no idea how to fix them.  With the bad weather I couldn’t make it to one account and the customer was furious.  I’m struggling spiritually and find myself going backwards in my walk.  I was never much of an angry person, but have lately in recent weeks noticed me losing my cool taking it out on different people, mainly my wife.  It seems like it’s never ending and I haven’t been able to catch a break.    

So this morning my boss sends me to Cedar Rapids, IA at an account with a down machine.  As I’m traveling the early hours I looked up and noticed this electronic road sign above me which read: 

308 TRAFFIC DEATHS THIS YEAR

SANTA’S COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD DRIVER?

 The day went just as awful the previous week.  I walked into the account and waited about 45 minutes for someone to escort me upstairs.  I finally get upstairs and find out it’s on a machine in which I had absolutely no formal training on.  Images were messed up on the bottom of the docs and checks and the banks are rejecting them.  No matter what I did I couldn't fix it.  The customer is getting angrier by the minute wondering why I can’t fix it.  What I find is that the camera had melted from the inside out, and was completely destroyed.  No replacements on-site, and Christmas break the next two days.  Great…another furious customer.    

 Just when I thought it could not get any worse my boss calls me.  He chews me out for a half hour about the first furious customer I couldn’t get to because of the weather.  I made some poor decisions lately and now for the first time ever (12 years) I am getting reprimanded for something I did.  “You’re one of my best guys…I just don’t understand how you could have done that?” he said.  I totally let him down and made a difficult problem much worse.  Now since no one will be on-site to check in my package at the Cedar Rapids site, I volunteered to have the parts delivered to my house the following day and have to wait on them to arrive.  Plans ruined. 

 On my way out I realized that I was 15 minutes past the time on the parking meter.  No sweat, I’m only a block away.  As I approach my car I looked up and saw a police officer writing a ticket. 

 

 So as I am driving back home from Cedar Rapids I passed by 4 tractor trailors and 6 cars in the ditch.  I saw the same road sign above.  This time it read:

 

313 TRAFFIC DEATHS THIS YEAR

SANTA’S COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD DRIVER? 

I paused for a moment.  Then it hit me.  While I was having a bad day at work 5 people lost their lives.  

5 people who were not coming home.

5 people who are going to be missed by loved ones this Christmas.

5 daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, who are leaving behind grieving family or friends. 

5 people in heaven or hell for eternity. 

 

That's when the Lord put on my heart a roadsign for me:

 

150,000 DEATHS TODAY

JESUS IS COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING YOUR TALENT IN THE DIRT

OR YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BASKET?

 

Though my job is important, it's not as important as witnessing and sharing Christ with the lost of this world.  Lately it seems that the Lord is making my job less and less desireable so as to change my life for His glory.  In the end, my job won't mean much to me, but those whom I have touched with the gospel will mean everything.  I hope this blesses you and puts an idea to go share Jesus with the Lost of this world.