“I choose not to care, it’s my decision. If I had not said a word about it, no one will notice. My secret is safe. Maybe me not caring is not a big deal. Perhaps why am I so preoccupied? I am sure that they don’t care that I don’t care. Anyway, it is his or her problem. I didn’t make the mistakes, they did, and do you want to know something? I have enough problems myself to get involved with someone else’s issues. One other thing, they are not asking for help and I should respect that, right? why should I be so concerned to help them? I mean, I can see that the path that they are going will not end well, but they can figure it out by themselves, I did. Anyway, its to much of a hassle and as I said before, I got things in my plate also.”

You and I have found ourselves having internal conversations like these at some point in our lives. Many of us will not even admit to having them, but the fact remains that we have all struggled with this in one way or the other. And we choose. We choose to stand still and do nothing and keep on our merry way. Life will be unchanged for us and we will not be inconvenienced with a pause of our busy lives. Its all great, for us life remains uninterrupted.

Or we can choose to act. We can act at the expense of being inconvenienced and rejected. We can act being almost certain that we will not be thanked or recognized at the moment. But we act with the expectation of the promise of a life changed. We act on the expectation of a disaster averted, and when we do, the feeling of relief is unexplainable. And it doesn’t take much from our part. Sometimes it is like moving the lever to change the tracks of a train to avert a colission. We have all seen it in the movies, when someone makes this effort to move that lever so the train can change from one track to another. It seems to be a very big effort at the beginning, but when it is done, the relief is so visible, that for those that made the effort, it was worth it. In many of the cases no one on the train even notices, but their lives have been spared from disaster. Lives directed into the correct track, and it is just awesome.

This reminds me of Matthew 9:36. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Jesus saw the crowds he had to act. He saw their condition and decided to do something. And he knew he was going to be rejected. He knew that his effort would not be recognized at the moment or even thanked. His secret ambition was the promise of changed lives, disaster averted and redeemed souls. And he chose. And it cost him. but for that reason my life and yours were changed. He made the effort to move us into the track that would change everything.

What about you? Have you had these internal struggles. To act or not to act? Sometimes it only takes a small effort from our part and almost all the time it will not cost us our life. The effort will be just a nudge, a word, a smile, a conversation, an invitation, a handshake. But we must choose to do so. I promise you that the feeling is amazing. You will see the train changing lanes, but more importantly how your own life has changed, because you had the courage to choose.

“BREATHE expectantly, LIVE confidently and MOVE Boldly”

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© Copyright Danny Maldonado, 2012
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.