Do You Think Your Life Is Wasted? (a story)

The last five years were all a downward spiral for him. He had lost his job and the two businesses he tried to do had failed. His friends deserted him when his money was gone. One night, his heart became heavy with sorrow. He began to walk aimlessly. It was not once or twice that drivers shouted angrily at him for he had stepped unknowingly into traffic lanes.

At the sudden screeching of brakes all heads turned in his direction. A young driver lost his temper; he stepped out of his car and shouted at Johnny, “What! Are you going to kill yourself?” There was only a lost stare from Johnny as he thought, “Well, that’s what I’m going to do!”

As he walked towards the outskirts of the city, the mad rush of cars and people began to thin out. The cold was biting at this time of the year. A light drizzle soon started into a moderately heavy rain. Johnny looked for the nearest spot where he could take shelter. A small church; all brightly lit up with Christmas stars and lights stood open. He ran towards the church. Wondering whether he would be welcome inside, he stood outside on the porch and cursed the day of his birth.

The meaninglessness of his life was what nagged him most. “What am I living for?” he thought. All the hopes of former years lay a heap of ruins around him. The last five years of his life, he thought, were the most wasted years of his life. “Only if the rain would come to an end,” he mused to himself. But then he thought, “Why should a man who wants to die be bothered about getting drenched in the rain?”

All this time the kids choir was singing inside the church. Joyful carols proclaiming the Saviour’s birth rang out loud and clear. Yet Johnny heard nothing. But then as he was about to leave for his final walk on earth; there began a song which compelled his attention.

There was something captivating and consoling about that song. He tried hard to listen to the words. Lightning flashed, and thunder rolled. But above its noise the voices of children, like a mighty rising tide, swelled in his heart:

Every tiny star that twinkles in the night sky,
Every drop of morning dew, . . .
Tells the fascinating news to those who dare to hope,
And the message is . . . !

God still loves the world,
God still, still loves the world!
So, throw your life into his hands,
Day by day discern his plans;
God is passionately busy loving you and me!

Those words struck a note of hope in Johnny’s heart. He did not know why. Neither did he know how his problems would be solved. Yet a calm assurance came upon his heart. He felt loved for the first time in his life. He knew there was hope for the future.

So many inside the church had heard this song. Yet it struck a note of hope in the heart of Johnny; a man who was walking towards a deliberate and unhappy end. Johnny only knew one thing then. All that mattered for God in the world at that point in time was him. Truly, he had met the One who would repay him the wasted years of his life!

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