Thursday, July 28, 2022

Be Still


It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ - Genesis 31:29

Jacob had been tricked into marrying Leah when he thought he was marrying his love, Rebecca. Laban, the girls father had tricked him. Later on when Jacobs sheep were doing better than Laban, Laban got mad at him, jealous even.

Jacob knew how Laban felt so he secretly took his sheep and goods and packed up Laban's two daughters to leave his land. Oh this made Laban angry. Angry enough to harm Jacob. But God spoke to him saying "Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad." It was a warning from God. Not speaking good or bad pretty much rules out a conversation of any kind.

God takes care of the issues we have with others here - as long as we don't step in and try to handle it ourselves. But sometimes out of anger, instead of leaving it to God and keeping our cool, we jump into the the ring of the opponent. Friends, that's now how we should fight our battles.

Typically, I can sit back and let others fight it out.  Last week I had three persons coming at me asking questions because they were angry at someone else.  I simply added that person to the email thread and walked out of it.  I don't like drama.  Let me rephrase that.  I do not like drama.  It brings stress, hurt feelings, conflict among friends, and a world of hurt that even thought it fades into the background, it never goes away.

This week I've had two of my coworkers come at me with undeserved anger. In the company I work in and have for nearly 15 years, this just doesn't happen. The first conflict came from a woman hurling ridiculous insults at me. On this one I jumped in, demanded an apology, refused to speak to her till I got one. I have to walk back into the drama today to settle it.

The second was yesterday. After having notified them that I was at the ER with my mom I got a nastygram telling me that I was supposed to be in the meeting - even though they knew where I was and why. This one I leave in God's hands. I do believe He can fight all my battles - and I believe He wins every time.

That's the lesson from this verse: Be Still. We often feel like we have to defend ourselves, not be ran over or used as a doormat. But the only way we can turn it around is to give it to God. People are mean because of what is inside them. That's often the problem instead of the circumstances. It's either envy, jealousy, pent up anger from something else, or just a need to be a bully thinking they can gain ground and become more powerful if everyone submits to their bullishness.

We can't fix heart problems. But God can. God can not only change a heart, but give a person a new one - a new creature in Christ. All we can do is anger them more of become a doormat.

When the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea, Moses gave them a piece of advice we all should take. "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”"(Exodus 14:14)

Protect the peace in your life, but do it by maintaining your peace with God. Let Him fight those battles and you'll never lose.