Response

This morning the team had a tough decision to make.  In many ways, I was glad I did not hear my telephone.  The team could not reach me, so they huddled together, discussed the options, and took a call.  The good news came with the fix that followed their decision.  The bad news was that two plus days of work by a team of seventy plus went down the drain.  The last remaining question was my morning greeting.  How would the staff react to the bad news?
The question is far more real in our lives than we want to acknowledge or think about.  Bad stuff happens all the time!  Promises are made and broken.  Deadlines loom and then pass without achieving the goal.  Expectations grow, mature, and even linger long after the bubble has burst.  In each situation, our souls are torn in ways we never quite anticipate or prepare for.  It happens when we deserve it and when we do not. 
I had tried to warn the team that there would be days like this.  I doubt they heard that part of my speech.  Even if they listened, it is unlikely they took it to heart.  I wondered, worried, and watched.
Bad things happen to good people, even great ones.  One prophet made this observation about one to come; “He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word.  Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence.”  (Isaiah 53.7) 
I always wondered what this would look like.  Today I saw the first hit and then the response.  It was hope filled!  The team listened, absorbed, and then buckled in and went to work.  It was as if they were witnessing to the power of truth and hope.  “We heard the blues. We felt the pain.  We saw the opportunity.  We sensed the call.  We were and are committed, so we will act.”
Their response was close to the ideal.  It is an example that will haunt me for a long time.