I recently started working at a third party hotel booking agency. I’ve worked in customer service before, and thought I would be prepared for my new job. I was mistaken. My previous position as a customer service representative was for a lab supply distribution company. We sold chemicals, beakers, syringes, gloves, lab coats, and anything else you might need in a laboratory. Because of our product type, the majority of the people I spoke to on the phone were scientists, who knew what they were talking about and had degrees to prove it. They were well spoken and, unless they were rattling off an unusual chemical name, they were easy to understand. Because I was primarily placing orders, unless their order was late or the order was incorrect, they were generally very calm. My new job is very differernt.

To start with, the customers come from all walks of life.They come from all over, and they are in many different age groups. Some of them are easier to understand than others, and some require a little more patience than the average caller.

Their issues can range from things like roaches, to railroad tracks that are too close. From cancelling, to adding another night. Some calls are much easier to call than others.

One of the things I believe this job is teaching me, is to keep my life and the situations I face in the proper perspective. I have heard some ridiculous things from customers at both jobs, but the fact is, these things are important to the person on the other end of the line. It’s easy to get caught up in our situations and circumstances and then forget how small the things we face really are.

In comparison to eternity, our very lives, are but a vapor. In light of our insignificance, stress makes no sense. The things we are facing will soon pass away. The times of ease pass away just as the times of trial do. Because we, our circumstances, and our lives are temporal, it is extremely important for us to keep our eyes where they really belong: on Jesus.

Jesus alone will not pass away, only He will not change. If our eyes are fixed on the One who was, and is, and is to come, we will not be so easily trapped and distracted by the temporal things we face on a day to day basis. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we will see how truly small our problems really are.