In my early twenties, I felt like I was spinning my wheels, having neglected to return to college to complete my degree for pastoral work. Instead, I found a job working in the warehouse for a business forms company, where I made deliveries. There, I met Alan, who had already been there for a while, and he showed me the ropes. We became friends and started going to ball games together and eating out at Tex-Mex restaurants.

Alan became more than just a friend to hang out with. He became a friend who helped me move from one place to another across town. He was the friend I called when my car broke down outside of town late at night. Since he was a little older than I, he became like a big brother to me.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

One day, while we were waiting for clearance to make a large delivery in a secured area of the Tulsa International airport, our conversation turned to Jesus. Alan was already a Christian, but he seemed eager to learn more. I shared the Sabbath with him, explaining that I observe the Seventh-day Sabbath because it is the example Jesus gave us, and our salvation is found solely in Him. He found that interesting. 

Of course Alan was just as much an influence on me as I was on him. Sometimes when I would get upset with our boss who could be rather mean sometimes, Alan would remind me about what I taught him in the Bible about Jesus teaching us to love and forgive our enemies. And that is not the only way he was an influence on me. years later when I was still wanting to go to Tex-Mex restaurants, because of health issues, Alan was trying to follow the Bible health principles I shared with him more closely than I was at times. 

I wasn’t spinning my wheels entirely in Tulsa.  I was actively involved in my local church, where I became the youngest elder in the Oklahoma Adventist Conference and preached extensively both in my church and across the state. Alan would sometimes come and hear me speak, though he never joined a church as for the most part, he was an outdoorsman who found nature to be the sanctuary where he met with God. Still, even years later Alan would tell me how he would keep the Sabbath by setting the entire day aside for God. 

Alan and I enjoyed working together about as much as you can enjoy working in a warehouse and doing deliveries. Some parts of the job were a lot of fun, such as driving to Arkansas and back to make deliveries, and meeting all the people along the way. In the evenings, when I would drive across town to visit friends, seeing all the businesses where I had delivered business forms  gave me a sense of satisfaction . Making deliveries was a tangible way I could see the results of my labor. Still, there were times when I would be sweating while making deliveries or even in the warehouse during the day, and I would think to myself, ‘If only I were a pastor, I could spend my time making hospital visits and giving Bible studies, making better use of my time. I would even have more time for personal Bible study and sermon preparation.’

During the four years I worked at the business forms company, Alan and I continued our conversations about Jesus. Over time, he became familiar with my friends from church and joined some of our group studies and attended ball games with us.

Eventually, some friends from church led me to become a literature evangelist, and I left the business forms company. However, Alan and I continued our friendship, and he even came to my rescue when my car broke down 30 miles outside of town, where I was selling Christian books.

After doing literature evangelism for a couple of years, a new pastor came to my church and hired me as a Bible Worker. I told Alan I needed practice giving Bible studies, and he  agreed that I could practice on him. ¹ He started visiting the church with me again. Later, when I moved to Texas for a Bible Worker position, Alan and I continued being friends.

Over time, we lost contact for a few years, but when Facebook emerged, we reconnected and started communicating again. By this time, I was in Florida, where I was serving as a Bible Worker. He was at my 50th birthday celebration, for which I had back home in Tulsa. When my mother passed away, he was a pallbearer. Alan had his tragedies, as his son was killed in a motorcycle accident, and his wife died of a lingering illness. He would call and talk, and he was comforted as I reminded him of what we had learned in our Bible studies about the state of the dead and the hope of the second coming.

When the Florida conference asked me to be a full-time conference pastor, Alan, as well as the rest of my friends, were very happy. Alan was there when I came back to Oklahoma as a guest speaker – this time as a full-time pastor..

Alan continued texting me prayer requests whenever anything was going on with his family or his health. He faithfully followed me on Facebook, telling me my inspirational messages were always just what he needed to read. About a week ago, Alan crossed my mind again. It had been a month since I heard from him, so I picked up the phone to call. His number was no longer working. Concerned, I went to Facebook and everything looked normal, but later I found his obituary online. He had died so suddenly that he had had no time to text me, as he usually did when he was in some kind of trouble. 

Later, Alan’s sister told me Alan often mentioned me and that he had always felt that I was his personal pastor. That made me feel warm inside. I thought back to earlier days at the business forms company. I had always felt like I was spinning my wheels there and should have been working on becoming a pastor instead of dealing with business forms. But was I just spinning my wheels? Should I have become a pastor in my early twenties instead of spending all that time working in a business forms company? I thought to myself that one day I will meet Alan again on the streets of gold, and he will tell me he was glad I did not become a pastor in my early twenties. Alan will assure me that I was exactly where I belonged the whole time.

As much as I loved being a Bible Worker and love being a pastor, I am comforted by the thought that being a pastor does not define me. My years as a Bible Worker do not define me. My entire life defines me, and it has purpose and meaning. I wasn’t spinning my wheels at the business forms company in my early twenties. I was exactly where God wanted me to be the whole time.

I hope my story has opened your eyes to ways God can use and is using you where you are today. Too often, we spend our time longing to reach a life goal, not realizing that God is already using us for a purpose, every step of the way. Even if you become president of your country, that will not define you. Your whole life has purpose. Your entire life defines you.

That day, when I was sitting in the delivery truck with my friend Alan, talking about Jesus while waiting to make our delivery at the airport, had just as much meaning and purpose as sitting behind the desk in my pastor’s office today.

God calls each one of us to serve Him right where we are, just as He called  the nation of Israel to be a light for Him:

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

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