IT TAKES TWO - DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD October 15 2014
Sometimes people don't mean to say negative things to you. Maybe they're venting, frustrated, or having a bad day. Maybe they're so used to putting others down or griping that it comes naturally and they need to be reminded there's a better way. I worked with a girl who vented everyday by yelling and screaming, slamming her fists down on the counter and getting hostile. And that was her way of saying "Good morning." This kind of disrupted my little Happy Christian bubble because I'm quiet, reserved, etc., and she wanted someone to agree with her. She wanted someone to say, "I know, off with their heads!" I just wasn't buying it, so I would say, "No, I don't agree with that," which generally made matters worse, but I know that we serve a God of peace, comfort, healing, favor and blessings, not cursing and derision which can take us away from God and His blessings for us.
My mom told me about how she went through a similar experience years ago when she worked at a job that she'd asked God for. She would see the ladies in the lunch room and they would be griping and complaining. They would see her and say, "Right?" My mom was caught off guard several times like this, but would always say, "Ahh, no. Wrong." She knew that she shouldn't and couldn't be in agreement with these women who were cursing the environment. Even if there were bad days, how could she curse what she asked God for? How could she curse what she needed to bless and be thankful for?
When you walk into hostile atmospheres, speak favor and blessings. It may be hard, you may not be received, and at times, you may not even feel like it or see it, but as we go through environments that embrace God and Jesus less, we have to stand by God more. We need to speak life and make it manifest into the atmosphere. We need to walk into environments and speak "It is well with my soul," and "Peace be still." We need prayer and healing. We need God's help and angels. We need to speak life and not death because ultimately, life and death is in the power of the tongue. Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he - Proverbs 23:7
My mom told me about how she went through a similar experience years ago when she worked at a job that she'd asked God for. She would see the ladies in the lunch room and they would be griping and complaining. They would see her and say, "Right?" My mom was caught off guard several times like this, but would always say, "Ahh, no. Wrong." She knew that she shouldn't and couldn't be in agreement with these women who were cursing the environment. Even if there were bad days, how could she curse what she asked God for? How could she curse what she needed to bless and be thankful for?
When you walk into hostile atmospheres, speak favor and blessings. It may be hard, you may not be received, and at times, you may not even feel like it or see it, but as we go through environments that embrace God and Jesus less, we have to stand by God more. We need to speak life and make it manifest into the atmosphere. We need to walk into environments and speak "It is well with my soul," and "Peace be still." We need prayer and healing. We need God's help and angels. We need to speak life and not death because ultimately, life and death is in the power of the tongue. Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he - Proverbs 23:7
