July 28 Thought for Today – “I Can’t Do This Anymore!” “I Can’t Do This Anymore” Chaplain Terry Hallman Law Enforcement Chaplains of Tuscaloosa County, AL “I Can’t Do This Anymore,” were the first words out of his mouth. His face contorted with shock, once again he said: “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t take it.” As a police chaplain I’ve come to expect the unexpected, but this time I could not imagine what had happened. A rush of fear gripped me. Then he asked: “Why is God doing this to me?” In the past several weeks he’d seen too much heartbreak and carnage: a crazed man on whom he had to perform CPR after he shot himself at the end of a high-speed chase; a young boy who drowned (the officer rescued him from the water but could not resuscitate him); and then this morning! I thought, “It’s not even 8:00 a.m. What could have happened this morning?” On his way to work on the interstate, the deputy had seen an accident involving an 18-wheeler and a pedestrian. He and a State Trooper were first on scene and did what they could. The body was badly mangled. As forensics arrived to take it to the morgue, brain matter fell out. The young lady in charge grabbed a sock which had been knocked off the victim’s foot, and scooped it up. At that point he became sick and said to himself: “I can’t take this anymore! Why is God doing this to me?” With my mind and heart churning I began to pray: “God, what do I say to him? What kind of answer can I give him? What are you doing?” In what seemed to be many minutes the LORD spoke to my heart with this thought: I am not doing this to punish him; I’m using him because he is my child and he has my heart. When he was giving CPR to the man by the train tracks, I was teaching him about LIFE. When he was trying to save the drowning boy, I was teaching him about LOVE. When he was with the pedestrian who was killed, I was teaching him about DEATH. When I told this broken man what God said to me, it was like a revelation to him. As we sat and talked it was like a fresh breath of air, and renewed life rushed into his soul. We prayed together, and I thanked God for helping this deputy understand the great need for officers like him to help others. Not many can deal with the awful tragedies of life, and he was too good an officer to lose. Daily I pray for officers like him who suffer along with the victims they assist. Let me encourage you to pray also. Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (This story appears on July 30 in the daily devotional, Stories of Faith and Courage from Cops on the Street. The book is available in either print or e-book form. Check with your local bookstore or order online at Amazon.)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 10:26:35 +0000
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