Problems at work

[newburydave]

I've had an anomalous situation come up at my work. I'm not sure what's behind it all but if the Lord doesn't help me I could lose my job over it.

Interestingly, many of the more active members in our church are also having increased job stress in the last few weeks. It seems that the Devil doesn't like us for some reason.

I'd appreciate an interest in your prayers about this.

Thank you

SGD

dave

[beckyminor]

So sorry to hear about your troubles, Dave. I pray that the Lord will show his hand in this, and that your job will be preserved!

May you and your fellow congregants stand firm in God's care as you battle the circumstances.

[thogmaster]

Will definitely pray, Dave!

[newburydave]

Thank you.

[morganlbusse]

Sorry to hear that Dave. May God work through whatever is going on... and prayers away.

[Jeff Gerke]

I've noticed increased stress and irritibility all around me lately (mid-May 2010). I wonder if we're under a financial strain that isn't in the papers (but soon will be).

[newburydave]

The Lord answered prayer.

They dropped the problem on me two Thursdays ago. That Friday they put me on probation and said I had to take remedial training. Monday I started the "remedial training". It was something that I'd never been trained in previously. The trainer told me that the owner wanted to fire me regardless.

Needless to say I was in a hyper stressed emotional roil over it. Constant plotting, planning strategy, arguments and what I'd say if . . .; waking up in a panic several times a night; starting to feel like my heart was trying to go Tachy again; all that good stuff I thought I'd left behind in industry.

Wednesday I took some stuff over to our church for a rummage sale to help raise money for the Day Care Center our church runs as an outreach to the city. (Locally our church is known as the "Noahs Ark Church" because of the 'Noah's Ark Daycare center' sign out by the road next to our church sign, the big Giraffe really grabs your attention when you drive by)

While I was there I went in to talk to our pastor about this whole thing. He listened to my tale of woe, counseled with me some and then prayed for me.

While he was counseling I began to see that I was looking at the wrong end of things. I was concerned about my "reputation" and "professional standing".

Professional standing as a part time School bus driver, HAH! The poisonous thinking of worldly mindedness is laughable, when you really step back and look at it calmly.

What I began to see was that it was more important to keep my Soul right with God in all this. He was keeping me on the outside, no one at work knew that I was going through misery; but I needed to let Him keep my soul, calm and trusting, on the inside. I needed faith to face this without any thoughts of revenge, or precipitous action to get out of the fire of stress.

Then, when Pastor started to pray for me, and my situation, the Lord spoke to me. Jesus asked me "Are you willing to suffer unjustly for my sake?" He followed up with a statement "I didn't even open my mouth in my own defense when I suffered for you."

Finally He called to my memory one of the things that was at stake.

This wasn't a matter of religious persecution. "For His sake" here was for the sake of not marring my witness by doing something rash or vengeful.

The Lord has provided two chances, in the last two months, to really speak to the soul of another man at work (the man who was training me) about eternity and salvation. He is a self confessed atheist, who believes this world is our heaven. I guess he'd really been brutalized over something by the church he grew up in.

He told me that he didn't normally talk about religion, but he listened to me because "he knew I was real". I realized then that Jesus was warning me that I couldn't afford to do anything to make me look "un-real" spiritually in Mike's eyes. God had already begun to shake Mike's atheism through an unmistakable 'God moment' during the funeral of a friend of his. I'd been praying for several months that God would make Himself real to Mike.

I figured that if I had to suffer unjustly, and it somehow revealed more of Jesus to Mike, it would be worth it.

At that point the cloud of stress, all thoughts of quitting so they couldn't fire me, musings about taking legal action, the emotional upheaval, everything just evaporated. God took it from me. I still thought I'd be fired on Friday last, but I was calm, even joyful at the prospect. I was intensely interested to see what Jesus had for me next.

Friday was bit of an anti-climax. When I went in to ask my boss what the evaluation on me was, she acted like she didn't know what I was talking about at first. Then she said "Oh, the tapes look good, just keep it up."

So after that long story I still have my part time job (my wife told me I really didn't need the job now. We have enough to get by on.) and things are under control again. My wife just got a promotion to the Science Department head at the High School where she teaches, and that comes with a raise. So life goes on pretty much the same.

I guess my internal battle was the biggest thing that the Lord was after. I need to have more faith and stop trying to "fix" everything in my own strength (I oughtta' know by now I don't have any strength anyhow.)

Please help me pray for Mike if you think of it. He said he really had trouble believing in all that God stuff. I told him I did too, back when I was an atheist; but when you walk into a wall, you learn that there is a wall there. That's what my encounter with the risen Christ was like. So help me pray for a "God Wall" for Mike.

Bless you every one, thank you for helping to pray me through this.

Sola Gloria Dei - To God Alone be Glory

dave

[morganlbusse]

Ah Dave, that is so good to hear Thank you for sharing your journey. I need to hear things like that.

[beckyminor]

Amazing how the Lord can take one situation and use it for a reason that looks unrelated, if you look at it with earthly eyes! I'm blessed to hear that the Lord settled your spirit over all of it, and I add my prayers to yours for your trainer. Talk about a divine appointment right there.

[newburydave]

I continually stand amazed.

I am so nothing, but in Him I have sufficiency.

Waiting for my next assignment.


SGD

[newburydave]

May 20, 2010 9:27:05 GMT -5 Jeff Gerke said:

I've noticed increased stress and irritibility all around me lately (mid-May 2010). I wonder if we're under a financial strain that isn't in the papers (but soon will be).

I don't know if any human instrumentality even notices us Jeff; but those principalities and powers seem to notice, and if I have any sense of the spiritual world at all I get the feeling that they are not at all pleased with us.

There seems to be a general push from the enemy camp, about now, to crush the life out of the US, along with anyone who stands for truth. Lies are the grist of the day for the chattering classes in the Media, have you noticed. It seems like we're living in Habakkuk's world, where only twisted judgement comes out of the gates of power.

For these reasons (and what I've just gone through), I feel that we need to dwell especially deeply, in our God and his Ressurection Spirit, in the coming days; so we can keep shining like lights in the deepening darkness of North America. I fear that our day is drawing to a close, just as England's day drew to a close after WWII.

But, "On Christ the solid rock We stand,
(even though) all other ground is sinking sand!"

The gates of hell can't keep us out of the regions where the lost hide.

Jesus shattered those infernal gates, of sin's dead bondage, when he gathered all the faithful dead from Abrahams bosom, into his arms of love, and then blew out of hell's prison like the reverse strike of a Lighting bolt returning to the celestial city.

We still have power to go in where the lost ones lie dying in the highways and hedges, lay our hands of faith on them and command them to live and be healed in the name of Jesus through the Resurrection Spirit of our Heavenly Bridegroom! Christ.

(well that's kind of Allegorical but you know what I mean, give them the truth in The Spirit and pull them out of the pit by faith)

Regardless how bad this world gets, they can't take the power of our Gospel Salvation away from us.

(I feel like shouting Glory! ;D ;D ;D)

Okay, I'll behave , well about as much as I usually do.

In answer to your question, as a Businessman I imagine you're feeling the financial pressures more than most of the rest of us do right now. There's a lot of bad stuff in the pipeline and somebody turned up the pumps.

So yeah; I think we're all about to come under increasing pressure. The Devil's trying to sift us to proove we're chaff, not wheat; just like he did to Peter. But Jesus has prayed for us (the greek word translated 'Prayed' literally means "Eclipsed the devils desires and power" so our faith will not fail, even if it trembles and shakes for awhile). Hey, it worked for Peter didn't it?

Gotta go. Keep lookin' up He is near at hand.

SGD

[journeyman]

Thank you Dave for your testimony. I do think I've been looking through the wrong end of the the glass, too. I'm very, very glad things came out much better for you that you expected. God is so good!

[tris]

Got in on this prayer request a little late....there's one more aspect we ought to consider by taking a look at Job....the sovereignty of God. Our college age son spoke on this last Sunday night at church (he's not a preacher and has not been called to preaching). He pointed out that each instance of Job's suffering was through God's granted permission to Satan for the purpose of revealing the character of Job's heart to the enemy.

It's easy to blame the enemy for our difficulties, but they only come through God's will. Satan has no power of his own.

I think sometimes we get lost in the persecution, wrongdoing, growth aspects of suffering and are afraid of what God does merely "to show us off". Hang in there, my dear brothers.

[Kristen]

Dave, thanks for sharing your story. I think it will help me get through my own problems at work. Unfortunately, everyone there is painfully aware how miserable I've been lately. I know I'm in it because He's refining me, but it's hard. And I'm impatient. I needed this reminder that how we withstand the fire is at least as important as the end result.

[newburydave]

I'm glad that it's helpful.

Jesus is faithful.

God Bless you, even in the midst of the fire.

SGD