A few months went by. On the last day of February, I quit my job because I felt that my boss had chosen to impersonate Satan. I had been warned not to mention God at work, then I felt they had started “picking on me”. I decided that if God wasn’t allowed there, I shouldn’t be there, either. One night at work, when I felt that the harassment was overwhelming, I turned in my badge and keys and told her, “God has always taken care of me, so I know I do not have to sit here and take this abuse.” and I walked out.
I signed up for unemployment, but was turned down because I refused a job that would only give me 2 days a week and maybe 3 hours a day, at minimum wage. I couldn’t pay my bills like that, let alone my transportation to and from work there. Yet, the Texas Workforce Commission said I was not qualified to receive an unemployment check.
I had enough money saved up to carry me for up to almost 3 months. But, I didn’t want to spend it if I didn’t have to. It was my savings.
And, I lost my health and life insurance.
As I set myself up to start filling out applications online, a member of my church told me to go apply at the restaurant she managed. I did, and I got the job. I knew I wasn’t going to be making the same money, and I had already set myself up to be able to make it on part time minimum wage if I needed to.
I praise God He had given me the wisdom to do so, and that He had provided through a Christian friend who was serving God right where she was.
When I started working at the restaurant, which was located at a truck stop about 10 miles from my home, I wasn’t sure what to expect from co-workers, but I was immediately delighted when, on my first day on the floor as a server, another church family member who worked there just, out of the blue, took my hands and prayed with me to encourage me. That is when I knew that God had led me there, and that I was where I was supposed to be.
On my way to work I would plug my phone into the car charger, and hook up my earphones and listen to Christian talk radio on my way to work. One day, I heard a preacher talk about how our ministry is where ever God has placed us at any given moment. I thought of my friend at work that had prayed with me that day, and I decided that she was definitely serving Christ right where she was.
Each of us are gifted right where we are, with what God has already given us to have our own ministry. If all you have time to do is work and go home, then your ministry is at work and home. The question is, are you conducting your ministry correctly? Are you working for the almighty dollar? or, are you working to bring Glory to God?
I thought about this. While money is important to me (isn't it important to everyone?) it is NOT my end all be all. If I am at work and my employer bans us from giving any credit to Jesus while I am there, I would (and have in the recent past) quit my job in search of somewhere God is allowed to be. If He isn't allowed to be there, I am not allowed, because I am His child, first and foremost.
It is in how we live our lives that testify to the Grace, Love and Mercy of God for others. I've had people comment to me after a simple conversation that I have helped them to see things in a different light, and have influenced them to be better people. I have had people tell me that they believe that God sent me to them at just the moment in their lives when they needed God the most, and they felt that I was His answer.
You don't lead people to Jesus by judgmental preaching and condemnation, you lead them to Jesus by being the only Jesus they are able to see at that moment. My ministry is where I am, and it is done by what God has given me to do it with.
I told my coworkers about it that day, and later, my friend who had prayed with me on that first day approached me and said, "I really needed to hear that."
I told her, "Do you really believe that the God who created you for a specific purpose on this earth would expect you to go to Africa to be a minister, and then not give you the ability to do so? So if God did not give you the ability to go to Africa, wouldn't it stand to reason that He would expect you to minister WHERE YOU ARE?"
She said, "I had never had it put to me like that before. Thank you!"
This is why I seek to be a better employee, a better friend, a better daughter, a better neighbor.
Mark 12
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I have learned that by focusing on these first two commandments, all of the other commandments are so much easier to follow...and even if I cannot (for I am still a work in progress), my light shines bright enough that others seek to have what I have found, and start building their own relationship with the Father, and building up their own accountability.
And, that is what a minister is supposed to do.
I signed up for unemployment, but was turned down because I refused a job that would only give me 2 days a week and maybe 3 hours a day, at minimum wage. I couldn’t pay my bills like that, let alone my transportation to and from work there. Yet, the Texas Workforce Commission said I was not qualified to receive an unemployment check.
I had enough money saved up to carry me for up to almost 3 months. But, I didn’t want to spend it if I didn’t have to. It was my savings.
And, I lost my health and life insurance.
As I set myself up to start filling out applications online, a member of my church told me to go apply at the restaurant she managed. I did, and I got the job. I knew I wasn’t going to be making the same money, and I had already set myself up to be able to make it on part time minimum wage if I needed to.
I praise God He had given me the wisdom to do so, and that He had provided through a Christian friend who was serving God right where she was.
When I started working at the restaurant, which was located at a truck stop about 10 miles from my home, I wasn’t sure what to expect from co-workers, but I was immediately delighted when, on my first day on the floor as a server, another church family member who worked there just, out of the blue, took my hands and prayed with me to encourage me. That is when I knew that God had led me there, and that I was where I was supposed to be.
On my way to work I would plug my phone into the car charger, and hook up my earphones and listen to Christian talk radio on my way to work. One day, I heard a preacher talk about how our ministry is where ever God has placed us at any given moment. I thought of my friend at work that had prayed with me that day, and I decided that she was definitely serving Christ right where she was.
Each of us are gifted right where we are, with what God has already given us to have our own ministry. If all you have time to do is work and go home, then your ministry is at work and home. The question is, are you conducting your ministry correctly? Are you working for the almighty dollar? or, are you working to bring Glory to God?
I thought about this. While money is important to me (isn't it important to everyone?) it is NOT my end all be all. If I am at work and my employer bans us from giving any credit to Jesus while I am there, I would (and have in the recent past) quit my job in search of somewhere God is allowed to be. If He isn't allowed to be there, I am not allowed, because I am His child, first and foremost.
It is in how we live our lives that testify to the Grace, Love and Mercy of God for others. I've had people comment to me after a simple conversation that I have helped them to see things in a different light, and have influenced them to be better people. I have had people tell me that they believe that God sent me to them at just the moment in their lives when they needed God the most, and they felt that I was His answer.
You don't lead people to Jesus by judgmental preaching and condemnation, you lead them to Jesus by being the only Jesus they are able to see at that moment. My ministry is where I am, and it is done by what God has given me to do it with.
I told my coworkers about it that day, and later, my friend who had prayed with me on that first day approached me and said, "I really needed to hear that."
I told her, "Do you really believe that the God who created you for a specific purpose on this earth would expect you to go to Africa to be a minister, and then not give you the ability to do so? So if God did not give you the ability to go to Africa, wouldn't it stand to reason that He would expect you to minister WHERE YOU ARE?"
She said, "I had never had it put to me like that before. Thank you!"
This is why I seek to be a better employee, a better friend, a better daughter, a better neighbor.
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I have learned that by focusing on these first two commandments, all of the other commandments are so much easier to follow...and even if I cannot (for I am still a work in progress), my light shines bright enough that others seek to have what I have found, and start building their own relationship with the Father, and building up their own accountability.
And, that is what a minister is supposed to do.
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