There was a lot of whispering around the water cooler. My supervisor was a candidate for Vice President of the department. Many asked, “Was she qualified?” Others thought, “There has never been a woman in this position before,” and “Is she even suitable for the task?” Although there were at least four other candidates, she was chosen to carry the torch of Vice President. Never had I been so proud of my boss of three years. My coworkers and I had a big celebration dinner filled with joy and plenty of gifts to honor her new-found success. Finally, her hard work had paid off and she was headed for bigger and better things.
After the initial excitement died down, I was hit with the news that there would now be a few more additional changes. Although the promotion was a wonderful achievement, I never considered that I would no longer report to my fearless leader. As she moved up the corporate ladder, there was now a new vacancy in the department and things were about to shift. Her current position needed to be filled and I needed a new supervisor.
There was again a lot of whispering around the water cooler. “Who would be the candidate for the new position?” “Would that person be as qualified as my last supervisor?” and “Is this person going to be suitable for the task?” Many candidates began to come into the office. With each interview, anxiety began to build and an unseen dark cloud began to fill the atmosphere. My work environment was encompassed with a state of worry and fear of the unknown. Finally, a new candidate was hired and things began to change.
Through this experience, I realized three things: God is sovereign, change is inevitable and worry and fear is the absence of faith and trust. I often wonder why God sometimes never fully discloses the stipulations of his blessings. For example, even when there is a promotion, we often lose things in the process in order to grow. As God takes us to higher heights and deeper depths, we may lose some friends along the way and may have to endure a lot of negative “whispers” and our faith may be challenged. We may feel uncomfortable at times, but we cannot let fear overtake our hearts, because even though our situation may transform, there is a time and season for every change and this too shall pass.
We must fully trust God that our outcome will be in our favor and even when we go through the process of not knowing the future, there should be a reassurance that God is in control. God encourages us in the book of Deuteronomy 31:6 to “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” He also reminds us in 1 Peter 5:7, to “Cast all our anxiety on Him, because He cares for us.” God is with us, through the journey of moving into the blessings He has prepared for us. He is with us when people speak words filled with questions of doubt and uncertainty and He is with us through the midst of change. Leave the unknown results to God, and never fear the outcome of moving forward.
Knowing the hand that feeds me
I was on the internet, and as I was typing the “google suggestions” appeared. As I’m easily distracted I clicked on one, and found myself reading about the science of Palm reading. First they read your dominant hand, the one that you use the most. This is considered your conscious mind. Your other hand (subconscious mind) can be read to give insight into your past, family traits, even past lives depending on the palmists beliefs. Typically the heart line is examined first, and represents love and attraction and how we live out our lives on an emotional level, high strung, calm, easily falls in love. The next line is the head line, and is viewed to represent a person’s mind, and how one learns, retains information. The third major line is the life line, this isn’t believed to tell how long a person will live for, more the quality of life they will live.
That’s a brief outline of Palmistry, as there are conflicting opinions within that belief system, not dissimilar to Christianity, and believing in the oneness of God vs. the Trinity. What also struck me about it was my own thought process, and how I was mocking those who believed in such things. The scientific community has dismissed palmistry, it’s been banned by the Catholic Church, and was considered one of the seven “forbidden arts.” Again there was a similarity to Christianity in its infancy, our current time and undoubtedly in the years to come. I understand the appeal of wanting to believe in palmistry. There’s an immediacy to it, and requires no effort on your part aside from paying the cost of having your hand held. This fast and easy reassurance has been around since B.C, the longevity of it is impressive, and revealing as to who we are as humans. Our perpetual impatience, and steadfast pride certainly does keep the business of the enemy flourishing.
From the Old to the New Testament people quickly became dissatisfied with their lot. Waiting for Moses they began to make a golden calf. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul laments their following of the false teachers, and turning to the ways of the flesh. I consider how that is reflected in many of our churches. How the word is watered down in order to not offend, and the health of the member’s wallets is considered to be more vital than their spiritual health. What we struggle to remember is that we are the body of the church and not the head regardless of our respective position in our churches. For if we have nothing but prophets in order to fill the seats, while we might be spiritually filled it will be hard to keep that focus as our bellies will be growling for our attention. Our hunger will grow to such a degree that we will search out a newer manna. The same applies if we have nothing but helpers and teachers, our bellies and minds might be full, but our spiritual immaturity won’t allow for true growth.
We aren’t to reflect the natural world in order to build up His church. We should be reflecting God’s church in our actions, our words and our relationships with one another. We should be set apart, a peculiar people, a first fruit. For we aren’t selling the next new thing. We are reflecting God’s hand at work in our lives. In order to do that we have to know God intimately, and not just on a Sunday.
While the problems of the church can seem insurmountable the solution is as it always is, God. I turn to the word, and see His hand at work. I see that Moses was given Aaron, and a rod. Jeremiah required a touch on his lip. Paul had a thorn, and David had his past. All given by God’s hand to build His church. I see how much God loves all His people uniquely, and yet the same. I don’t need a palm reader to tell me I struggle expressing myself verbally. I turn to God, and His hand to show me the whys of this struggle. I use this ability to write that He supplied me with to strengthen my faith, and to encourage others to do the same. I’m thankful because He feeds me continuously, and the least I can do is know the hand that feeds me.