There is a tale taken from the expanse of time of a young lad who lived in outreaches of Seattle Washington. This lad was the son of two very nice and responsible parents. Ever since he was born he was in church every Sunday, so all throughout growing up God was always a huge part of his life. After growing up a little he started to really think intellectually and started to really read the Bible as more than just a book with stories. The stories had an overall moral and meaning, but throughout the stories there are many other important lessons that he really started to notice. For him it really seamed like he was getting somewhere new and real in his walk with God that he never really had when he was younger even though he knew God most his life. differentiation
As I said before his parents were responsible and wanted to train their son well in the ways of God. So to benefit his education and keep him from being exposed to all the evil influences that lie in the public schools they decided to homeschool him. Yes it did seem to limit his number of friends and some would call him "sheltered", but by the time he got to highschool we was glad his parents decided to homeschool him. When he turned 16 it was time for him to have the responsibility and experience of a job. It wasn't that the young lad was irresponsible because his parents had taught him much about responsibility it was just that getting a job was a part of that teaching.
The lad put in applications for a few restaurants, but never heard much of anything back. Eventually he was forced to apply at the one place in town he really didn't want to apply at, but they were hiring so he went ahead and applied. A few weeks later he was interviewed and got the job.
This restaurant in Seattle Washington was a place which was mostly filled with people that definitely were not the desired crowed of people for a Christian. However, because of his parents desire for him to get a job he had to try working there and stick with it for a little while.
The next days he worked were days where he was exposed to pretty much everything he had always tried to stay away from. Most of the people he worked with had bad language problems, smoked, had tattoos, were not Christians, and made sinful connotations with the words they said. For the lad who had been kept away from most of those things most of the time during his life it was a culture shock and just a huge burden to constantly be bombarded with these sins he wasn't used to. The lad had to constantly make sure he didn't let the words seep into his mind, change his heart, and then become like them. Which was a big burden besides having a real job for the first time.
Often times the lad wondered why he a fine breed of Christians had to be with people that were totally not on his level. In a sense the lad felt like he was higher up on the imaginative American caste system. Then why did he have to be with these people and work with them he often asked himself.
Then one day he was listening to a new band he was introduced to and found one of the songs to be quite good sounding. However, when he actually started to listen to the words in the song they really hit him because it explained exactly how he felt about his experiences at his job. The lyrics also showed him where to find hope and he was finally able to start to understand why he had to work with those people. Its wasn't just because his parents made him do it, but because it was God's plan for him at that time. The song went something like this -
Broken hearted friends of mine
Lives of a lost and wasted time
And I stand watching with hot tears
Longing for you hearts to hear
And Jesus, Jesus don't you feel this pain?
They think I'm insane
I call on your name, Lord
The journey how to be that friend
For out of me you love for them
Cause they don't seam to understand
And I can not relate to them
And Jesus, Jesus don't you feel this pain?
They think I'm insane
I call on your name
And the greatest cry will rise from hell
Since Satan and his angels fell
Cause you take back the world you dreamed
Perfected for eternity
And I know that some will not come home
And that it hurts your heart more than mine own
But, you my God are in control
You'll never give up on my soul
In that I finally find my hope
The lad felt like he worked with those who waste their time and he could not relate to them at all because he had always been a "good kid." The lad knew that some of his workers would not make it to heaven when the time came for them to leave earth, but because God is always in control the lad knew that he had hope. Hope that he could keep from being influenced in bad ways and hope that he could influence others in good ways with God's help. Whatever the outcome of his work at his job he knew that he would not lose God or his love.
This tale is based on a true story. The song was written by Coastal Rise, is called Of Mine, and can be found on iTunes.
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