Pam Padgett ... teacher
Luke 21: 15 For I will give you a mouth and
wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor
resist.
In the mid 1980s I worked as a
secretary. One of the other secretaries,
Carol, said she was a Christian, but said things that that were very troubling
to me, including things that showed a lack of honesty and integrity. When I spoke with her about these things, she
became angry with me. I tried to stay
away from her as much as possible, to keep from hearing what she said. But, strangely, she kept trying to be around
me, even running to catch up with me while walking to where we parked our
cars. I asked God to somehow help me
where she was concerned.
At one point, I kept having the thought to give her a copy of a prophecy
Joan had received and shared with us. In this prophecy God spoke of torment that would come on those who call
themselves by His name, but don’t heed His words. After praying about this and believing it was
God leading me to give this to her, I put a copy of the prophecy in an
envelope. Before work the next day, I
saw Carol and told her I believed I was to give her a prophecy. She cheerfully said “Oh good! I just love prophecies!”
The following morning,
Carol notified us that she wouldn’t be in the office because she was sick. A couple hours later, the head of the
department (Doug) came by my desk and told me to follow him. We went to the Human Resources office where I
learned that, instead of being sick, Carol had filed a harassment complaint
against me that morning. The HR woman
handed the complaint to me.
Shaking, I read the complaint.
Carol had said that I
kept going to her desk to talk with her, keeping her from her work. When I read this, I said “this is not
true”. She had said that I had told her
on multiple occasions that she was not dealing truthfully. When I read this, I said “this is true”. She said that I interrupted her work to give
her a copy of a prophecy. I said “I gave
her a copy of a prophecy, but this was before work”. I read each point in the complaint, letting
Doug and the HR woman know which allegations were true and which were
false. On some of the points Doug even
admitted that what I said was true. When
I finished, the HR woman didn’t seem to know what to do next. Finally she said that it would probably be
best if Carol and I tried to just stay away from each other. I agreed.
However, a day or two later, Doug called both Carol
and me into his office. He had decided
we needed to find a way to get along with each other. I knew this was futile but before I could say
anything, Carol started attacking me, saying how dare I give her a prophecy that
told exactly what was going on in her life … torment … when I didn’t even know
what was going on in her life. She went
on to tell things in her life, including that her pre-school aged daughter had
tried to commit suicide, and then adding that there was no way I could know
these things, so how dare I give her a prophecy that described exactly what she
was going through.
When she finished, I spoke for the first
time, saying that she was correct …. I
didn’t know any of these things … but God did.
Neither Doug nor
Carol had much to say at that point, and the meeting ended.
After this, Carol did not try to
be around me. I still heard some things
that she said, and spoke up when I felt led to do so, but this happened much
less than when she was trying to be around me.
God know everything about us and everything about our
adversaries. He knows exactly what is needed to accomplish His purpose in
whatever matter we are dealing with.
This morning I was thinking about how scared I was when hearing that a
harassment complaint had been filed against me. Neither the HR woman nor Doug
asked me to tell them if the allegations were true, and I didn't set out to do
this. But as I started reading the complaint, I believe God led me to do this.
And, while doing this, the fear left me and I was strengthened.
Even
Doug, who had shown on many occasions before that he didn't like me, was
agreeing with what I said on some of the points. It was as if he couldn't keep
from agreeing. And the HR woman, who had always been very much "in charge" when
I saw her in other situations, didn't seem to know what to do when I finished
going through the complaint. God had turned the entire situation around.
Whereas I started reading the complaint in great fear, by the end, I was in
control. I believe God made me the "head" and not the "tail" in this.
Similarly, Doug seemed to be in control by calling us into his
office, and then Carol seemed in control as she verbally attacked me, but
God turned everything around with the words ... that I didn't know what was
going on in Carol's life, but God did .... and neither Carol nor Doug
could proceed. The words that God put in my mouth stopped everything.
Deut. 28:13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the
tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou
hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this
day, to observe and to do them:
What great help and reward we
receive when we try to obey God!
(Comments by Joan Boney) ... As I read this, I kept being reminded of Isaiah 54:17 ... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
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