Life’s Hardest Decisions

Circle K Picture this: I’m standing in my local Circle K store at the soda fountain. It’s Thursday night after my Life Group. The store is just about empty save one night-shift employee and his friend. I’m in the process of getting a Diet Coke for Michelle and a Dr. Pepper—with a shot of vanilla syrup—for myself. This is standard protocol for this type of trip. While watching the forty-four ounces of sweet nectar pour into my cup I hear the employee on the other side of the store say something that catches my attention.
“That’s honestly one of the hardest decisions of my life right now…”
I’m immediately interested. Maybe this is a Holy Spirit created moment for me to get into a spontaneous discussion about Jesus in the middle of an empty convenience store. I glance (subtly, of course) over my shoulder to see the employee holding a bag of chips and looking at his friend. What could he be trying to decide? Does God exist? Could God love him? How can there be so much pain and evil in the world if God does exist? Any of these would be great launching points for a discussion. I’m already imagining my part. I would say something like “sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhearing…” and then off we go. All of this happens in the blink of an eye, yet this moment seems to slow down for me to size it up and respond accordingly.  I’m jolted back to reality when he quickly finishes his previous thought.
“… deciding what to snack on.”
There it is. I chuckle to myself at first as I realize that the adrenaline rush of an impromptu discussion of Truth would be nothing more than a discussion of whether that whole Hostess Twinkie thing will work out and the world will be reunited with our lost love. (I don’t want to diminish that conversation of course). But then I reflect on the statement. If deciding your snack foods is one of the toughest decisions in your life you are living a pretty bizarre existence. I replay the tone of the statement in my head and reflect on how sincere he was as he said it. It was like he was reporting on the gravity of a crime he’d just witnessed. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself at the depth of introspection he said it with. I walked out of the store eighty-eight ounces wealthier and pondering a question for my own life: what things do I spend an inordinate amount of energy or effort on? What things am I crazy passionate about that someone else “overhearing” me talk about but would be just as confused. I know I’ve got my fair share. I bet you do too. Question: what are the common decisions we overemphasize in life?

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Jeremy Jernigan

Speaker | Author | Founder of Communion Wine Co. https://linktr.ee/JeremyJernigan