CHAPTER 17
“When I am afraid, I will trust in you” Psalm 56:3
The two men stood outside the church as people stood talking or made their way to their cars. Mark was saying, “You might have this a little backwards in your mind. God does look after you and take care of you, but that doesn't mean that He is going to make your life cushy.”
Blake answered, “I know that and I’m not expecting Him to hand me a billion dollars or anything, but surely He isn't going to expect me to work under a boss that is abusive and degrading.”
“I don't know exactly what God has in mind here, but remember, the New Testament contains instructions for Christ's followers that are slaves. I would be willing to believe that the life of a first century slave would make your boss seem like a pussy-cat. Are you sure you aren't judging this guy unfairly, you haven't even met him have you?”
“No,” Blake replied, “But I have talked to people that have and they all agree that he is a real jerk.”
“The problem,” said Mark, “is that we usually don't understand what God is doing. He may have in mind that you learn something from working for this guy or God might want him to learn from you. God may be looking for you to lead this guy to Christ. Then again, this guy may not live up to his nasty reputation, he might be a nice, but misunderstood, person.”
“From what I have heard, he is anything but nice. Some of the stories sound more like the archetypal bosses of Elizabethan England than modern day management. I'm really not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.”
Mark paused, then said, “Blake, sometimes we just have to trust the Lord. There will be times when we just can't see, can't even imagine, what He is doing. To me, one of the real heroes of the Bible was Ananias. God told him to go and heal the most vile and wicked villain of their age and cause. Ananias was sure this must be some sort of a mistake, but to his credit, he was obedient. Ananias set aside his fears in simple trust in God, this action resulted in a huge portion of the New Testament being written. This bad guy in need of healing was, of course, the apostle Paul, at least that's who he was after God got done working on him.”
Mark continued, “There have been times in my own life when it looked like God was sending me into the lion's den. In each of those cases, I had two choices: I can do what I want or I can trust that He has the perfect plan. You know what? When we trust Him in those cases when we really want to run the other way, this grows us in Him.”
Blake frowned, “Why can't He just inject us with God Growth Hormone or something instead of going through stuff like this?”
Mark laughed, “That would be too easy! Look at this as an opportunity to be used by God.”
Blake thought of how he had been praying that he would be “a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”50 Perhaps this was simply an answer to his own prayer. Maybe God did have a work for Blake with his new boss. As Blake thought this through, he decided that He would give God and the ogre... no...he wasn't going to call him that...he would give Oliver every possible chance. Perhaps this guy just needs somebody that cares. Blake said, “I guess you're right. I'll try.”
Mark said, “That's good, but keep in mind, your greatest effort isn't even close to being as powerful as God. You need to be praying for your new boss, and for yourself in this situation. If I had to guess, you are going to have some challenges ahead of you. If it is God's will that you do some sort of work in this situation, then He will supply His power to carry out His plan, but if you take it off in your own direction, you'll be on your own. There will be a lot of temptation to work this for your own advantage or to let your anger ruin everything. You will have to be prayed up to stay on His track.”
Blake said, “Huh. I never thought of doing his will in that way, but what you say makes sense. I guess everything that's important has temptations to get off His track. That being the case, then He would be the only protection that makes any sense.”
“You certainly need to enter into your work environment well prayed-up.” Mark said, “I don't know what God has in mind for you in this situation, but I'm sure it would be easy to just follow everybody else's example, instead of following God's plan. God's plan isn't usually the easiest choice. When everybody around you is complaining and panicking, what they are saying will seem more reasonable than listening to some whisper from God that you should do something different.”
“I guess I have already seen some of that. The sense of fear around the office is really infectious.” said Blake.
Mark said, “Trusting in God is easy when life is cushy, but when everybody is around you is losing their heads, it is tough to keep your head focused on Him.”
“I guess I have no real choice but to try. I would appreciate your prayers.” said Blake.
“You can be confident that I will be praying for you. God is a powerful God. He can do all things. You can trust in His power and wisdom.”
CHAPTER 18
“It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's.”
1 Samuel 17:47