0430

Tonight has been pretty steady at work. Nothing crazy or hurtful, just steady. I walked outside after my last run to get some cool, fresh air to find that our trash truck had arrived to empty our dumpster here at work. He replaced our dumpster and backed out of the weird angle he approached from, drove past me, and stopped at the stop sign.

The truck started beeping as he put it in reverse. He stopped right in front of me. I’m 10 hours into my 19-hour shift, so I’m not exactly feeling conversational. He walks up telling me that he appreciates the work I do [paramedic] and all first responders. He has a family member who used to be a medic. He said they always knew when he had a rough shift because he would come home, clam up, and just live in his own head space.

He said our job must be tough, especially with all the things we see over time and the long hours. He was very somber in the way he spoke, but I kept listening because I didn’t really have a good exit strategy on hand for this such situation.

I started to walk towards the door as he was walking back to his truck to get in. He stopped me again and said:

“I don’t know where you stand with things, but I want you to know that God and Jesus love you.”

I told him I know and explained that I am looking into my own pastoral gifts and trying to figure out what ministry looks like for me. He laughed.

“I got to the stop sign and something told me I need to come back and talk to you. Look up Isaiah 50:10.”

• This driver is from a contracted service, so I don’t know him on any level; never seen him or noticed him before in my life.
• This felt really awkward.
• He used triggering language in the first minute he was talking to me.
• He felt sent to come talk to me.
• He passed me scripture.

“Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.” Isaiah 50:10

Confused, I walked inside reflecting on the situation: our trash guy just went out of his way to talk to me because he felt sent to do so. I could spend a lot of time judging him and making remarks about this exchange, but instead I’m blown away.

Let this be a reminder that we need to be loving towards all the people we encounter. You never know when they are sent to cross paths with you. By showing hospitality to strangers, many have entertained angels without ever knowing it. God loves you, and Jesus too…. I listened to him. The greatest thing Jesus gave was his time. Maybe he needed this encounter at 4:30am for the sake of something going on in his life. Or maybe he was sent because I needed to hear what he had to say. “Whatever you do to the least of my people, you do to me.”