Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
I have a cousin who is very difficult to deal with. She becomes offended easily and everyone has always said how "sensitive" she is and how you have to be very careful around her.
About 2 years ago, I felt I was to just leave her alone. She lives in another city. She didn't try to call me in that period of time and I didn't try to call her. Everything moved along smoothly.
Yesterday I returned home and saw there was a missed phone call on my telephone. I checked and it was from this cousin's husband. There was a recorded message. I was expecting a message telling me that my cousin had died. But the message was from my cousin telling me her husband died. Of course I was very sorry for my cousin. They had been married 65 years.
This morning, I realized what a blessing it was to me to have missed the year of cancer that killed her husband. Had I know about him, I would have gone though all the pain and trouble and it would not have helped anyone. It would have drawn me away from my assignment from God. Because I had let her alone, I didn't know and was spared.
She has a way of drawing you into a net however and making you feel guilty for not calling her. But she, too, has telephone and she didn't show any interest in speaking with me.
But I did tell her I would be in touch more in the future (a trap).
I even thought maybe I should put her on my calendar so I wouldn't forget to call her in a week or so after everyone leaves after the funeral.
But this morning I was reminded of the following scripture which tells us to free ourselves if we have foolishly gotten ourselves into a trap by our words.
Prov. 6 ... 1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend;
go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. 5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
My goal is to do what is right in the sight of God. The wrong spirit can cause me to reach out and do something, send writings, make phone calls, drain myself so I can't do the work assigned me by God.
It is critical to try the spirit when the ideas come to call her. The wrong spirit can be authoring these ideas.
The important thing is to keep myself by the Holy Spirit that dwells in me and to continue this work assigned me by God. If I am needlessly upset, I can't read Bible and do this work.
Depending on God, as always is the key. Keeping my flesh under control and remembering to turn to God in prayer when the idea comes to do something where this cousin is concerned is critical. And that is to be done each time she is called to my mind.