This is just food for thought but how do you know when it's time to change direction - in business, church planting, ministry, or an idea you have been working on for some time?  How do you determine whether you should keep pushing or find another way around the wall?

This was part of my conversation with a great friend yesterday.

There are times where, for whatever reason, we just can't seem to get the results we had hoped for.  We work out consistently and eat the right foods but the pounds don't dramatically decrease.  We start a business that is better than the competition yet they get more recognition and clients from the target audience.  Or maybe we launch a church that is unlike anything in the community and needed but it just hasn't grown or reached new people.

We know that there are going to be times where it just takes patience and persistence because worthwhile goals don't come easy or come fast.  But what if after 6 months,  1 year or 5 years the fruit isn't quite there?  Is there a formula for knowing when it's time to readjust, start on a new path or give up completely?

My answer is I don't really know.  

It's different for each of us and I am in a situation right now where I am asking these questions.  I started a homeschool soccer group four years ago in the dream of building a couple teams to play competitively in a way that honors God.  We have had a super group of kids involved during this time and have a small group who has remained involved most of this time but I can't seem to get the type of involvement from parents and players to actually have one team in a specific age bracket.  Why is this so - especially when many people have expressed such a great interest in this sport?  Is it time to regroup and change direction or quit completely?  My decision is to make this the breakthrough year by changing up a few things and if we don't have the type of results we need by 2009, then it's time to move on.

A few things I believe that are helpful for making the right decision:

When we allow God to change our hearts, great things can happen! 

As I started to look at my job as a ministry instead of a paycheck or stepping stone, it helped me to approach the way I treated the prisoners.  I started to pray for them and take the time to listen to what was on some of their minds.   This was how I got to know  "Larry".  Larry couldn't and wouldn't share a cell with anyone and it created one heck of a problem - sometimes violent for a cell mate who was placed against his will with him.  The unusual thing is that Larry would pray and remove evil graffiti by soap and a washcloth every night, sometimes all night long.  But the dude was kinda cool and we talked and prayed about every time I worked on "his block". 

I had heard rumors (and they are constant) about the inmates preparing for a huge riot or taking officer's as prisoners.  It was definitely a cause for concern but many of the brass dismissed it - but Larry kept telling me that it was going to go down and despite me being a good guy to the inmates, there would be no mercy for potential targets.   For some reason, I could sense truth in his words.  He urged me to rethink the job since we did not have the means to protect ourselves and didn't want to see me get hurt.  Again, it is a very fine line on trusting any type of prisoner but I had already had enough scares with them being out of their cells with no walkie talkie or backup or nights of taking 15 prisoners up to their cells by myself with absolutely no help in case of emergency.  The odds were against me and I felt it was a matter of time before something did happen.  So with my family and safety in mind, I decided to give my resignation.

Right before I left as a detention officer, I had an opportunity to work on the juvenile floor where teenagers were locked up for murder, rape, grand larceny and drugs.  Through God's prompting I opened up a dialogue with them and spent three hours listening to their side of life, giving my testimony, and praying for them.  I will never forget as I was leaving what one of the teenagers, who was in for murder, said to me.  He thanked me for listening and praying and said that if someone would have just listened and spent time investing in his life for a few moments like I did that he may have not been there that day. 

I cannot tell you how that conversation changed and transformed my life!

That moment I knew that my future would not involve becoming a police officer to stop crime, but ministering and investing in the lives of other people so that some might be saved.  Never did I dream of ministering to youth or becoming a preacher but that day was one of the major catalysts for a new life-long conversion and mission.

So here's the main things I learned through my wonderful yet scary time in jail:

• I am a sinner and am not better than anyone else.  In the case of the inmates, the only difference is that I didn't get busted (of course God knows) but I could have easily been in there with them!
• God sometimes drops us into a messy place where we don't expect to be used and we just need to be available or obedient.  He can use us wherever...if we just allow Him too.
  
• We need to stop talking and start listening.  Listen to Jesus and listen to the people around you.  It's amazing what can happen if we hear instead of speak. 
  

God has a plan for you and your life.  You can use it for His glory or you can use it for yours.  The choice is up to you.

BTW - for those who wanted to know if the riot happened...the big one as promised never did, but there were a lot of altercations between detention officers and prisoners after I left that ended violently.  Either way I was happy to be on my new mission!

There’s a certain sick feeling you get when you know things could go from bad to worse and a floodgate of emotions can overtake your mind in a split second.  As I entered the jail pod God must have had my back because all the inmates bolted directly to their cells without any confrontation.  He answers prayers!  It was a strange wake up call and put a new perspective on my strategy as a detention officer.

Initially my tactic was to make all the inmates think I was crazy – and give them a bit to think about in case they did want to throw down.  I would run into the pods, jump up on the tables and start playing air guitar all while singing tunes from KISS to Garth Brooks at 2 a.m.  I would call them on their intercoms and act as though I were running a nightly call in show. Sometimes I would walk in the pod, turn around and leave, and come back again or just talk trash…all mind games to stay on their ‘level’.

God however, had another plan, and started to work on my heart and soul.

After a few weeks acting like a nut, God convinced me to change and try another approach.  Instead of being a cocky, lunatic of a detention officer I started to look at my job a little like a ministry.  I began to pray for the inmates and I let them know it.  I started to be real and talk with some of them and told them that I wasn’t any better than they were and that the only difference is that I didn’t get busted by the police.  After all how could I judge them when I had been a drug addict, an alcoholic, and done way more than my share of bad things before Jesus changed my life?  I also started to listen; listen to their pain and their stories.

The bad thing is you have to be extremely careful.  You cannot let your guard down because inmates will find a weakness and exploit it.  They can be buddy-like one minute and stab you in the back the next.  Don’t give them too much information or it will come back to haunt you.  Regardless, I did develop a reputation as a cool dude and some of the prisoners started to respect me because I respected them – and refusing to treat them like an animal as some other guards did.

This was how I caught wind of a potential riot and being a potential target…