In most jobs, it’s the people who make it memorable. In one job I used to work, I brought my lunch to work mostly to save money, but also because if people at this place wanted to grab an actual meal, they had to drive somewhere to get one.
There was this one guy at my workplace, Jacque, who was a little peculiar. He was a nice enough guy, but he was just sort of…I don’t know, odd. He was short, wore glasses, always seemed to wear cardigans with elbow patches, and had sort of a strange demeanor about him. The workplace was small enough that even though I didn’t work with Jacque, I knew who he was.
One day, probably around this time of year, it was getting chilly. For whatever reason, Jacque had to stick around on-site and work through lunch, which meant he couldn’t go out and get anything. He tried finding someone who was taking a trip to the nearby deli so he could ask them to pick something up for him. Whiffing a few times, he asked me if I was headed there. “No, I brought my lunch.” I guess maybe his track record convinced him to change tactics.
“Doesn’t a bowl of soup sound good? Especially on a day like today. It’s just so cold out, and some soup would really hit the spot.” The dude tried to convince me that I wanted soup, so I’d go out to get something for myself, and then since I was already out, maybe I could pick something up for him!
It’s my belief that God assigns tasks, both big and small, to believers, and that He equips them to do the things He’s called them to do. A lot of the degree of their success will depend on how consistently people apply themselves to getting the task done. When you’re living the Christian life, you’re also going to encounter resistance. Our enemy, when he cannot blind you to the truth, will try to distract you from your mission or subtract from your credibility.
I don’t believe Jacque was some agent of the devil in this case, but I think he serves as an illustration of how quickly someone or something you consider to be harmless can shift to being manipulative and distracting, pulling you away from what you’re trying to achieve. Keep your eyes on the goal you’ve been charged with reaching. Consistency is often more important than perfection, and many times that means saying “no” to the things that can balloon into time- and energy-sucking ventures.
(And don’t worry, Jacque was just fine.)