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(Ephesians 6:6) “... obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.”

Consequences of a [Supernatural] relationship with the Holy Spirit. (3)

(Continuing on from yesterday’s message).

My year at Bible college was over, and I’m sure that by now, you’d expect me to share a gazillion fabulous “Holy Spirit” filled encounters. Therefore, I’ll head off in a different direction and fast forward to when I left. Much to my wife’s annoyance and some of my teachers’ disapproval, I felt the Lord calling me back to the business world and started working again as the Webmaster for a huge Telco in the centre of London.

Unfortunately, after a few weeks of working, it became highly apparent that no matter how nice I tried to be to a lady manager in our department, she abjectly hated me – she didn’t even try to hide the fact and spent as much time as she could making my daily life a living hell.

I prayed (sulked, ground my teeth, clenched my fists, plotted her demise) and tolerated her constant jibes and criticisms for almost a year. Then, one day, after a terrible morning with her in a meeting, I skulked off to lick my (already bleeding) wounds again, pulled out my lunch box and huffily started to eat. I was honestly thinking that this could not be from GOD and was seriously thinking of resigning (but not before letting her have a piece of my mind)! As I ate, my fists clenched, my teeth bared, my nostrils flared, and my breathing shallow; I noticed her look across at my lunch from the corner of my eye and heard her say, “Wow, a tangerine! I love tangerines.” I didn’t acknowledge her remark. In fact, usually, I wouldn’t think twice about sharing anything, but instead, I thought to myself, “If the Lord Himself were to ask me to give her half, I’d say no!” No sooner had the thought left my mind than I felt the Lord say, “Give her the whole fruit.”

After an eternity of wrestling with GOD (I could seriously empathize with poor Jacob), I finally stood and, with shaking hands and clawed fingers, grabbed hold of the tangerine and almost squeezed it onto her desk. Then, without looking for her reaction, I quickly strode to the toilet. When I finally managed to calm down and returned to my desk, I noticed her dabbing her eyes with a tissue. It was apparent from her puffy face that she’d been crying. Thinking it must have been a grumpy customer, I (begrudgingly) asked her what was wrong and if I could help. She didn't look up; just began shaking her head and mumbled, “I have done everything I can to get rid of you, and the more I hurt you, the nicer you treat me…! Why?”

I didn't know what to say and found myself telling her then about the Lord, asking me to forgive and be kind to her. She looked astonished at that. In fact, she opened up a little, and it turned out that she knew all about Him as she’d walked away from Him many years ago. (To be continued …)

Holy Spirit, please touch the heart of whoever is reading this. Draw them into your heart and show them that You continue to speak and answer prayers today. Amen. 

Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve those who are sick amongst us—such as Barbara and Ian fighting cancer. We also pray for a quick and full healing for Jay and Liliana. Please grant your healing power to those who minister to all the sick among us so they may be strengthened in their weakness and have confidence in your loving care. We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.