Matthew 5:11-12
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
On a regular basis I receive messages from readers who are encountering trials and tribulations. The things they are encountering seem so overwhelming that there is no answer. I always pray for the individuals involved and the Lord usually directs my mind to the Scripture for today.
Several years ago one of the members of our fellowship and a dear friend shared with me that several of the people she works with were jealous of her and had been treating her with contempt. She just sent me an encouraging note that has lifted my spirits. I called her and asked if I could use it and she agreed, so here we go!
Cecil, Here is a personal story about loving the unloved:
Last week we had a consultant come to our office to teach us a new database system. The consultant was from India and spoke very broken English. Everyone in the office treated him poorly and nobody wanted to work with him. They quickly unloaded him on me and they took off to (supposed) meetings and other obligations.
They made themselves busy all week so they did not have any time to spend with him. I spent the week with him. At first I admit he was hard to understand and I did not want to put forth the extra effort to have meaningful communication any more than anyone else did but on the other hand I could not stand the way he was being treated so I tried my hardest to have good communication.
It only took about a half day and then we could easily understand each other. The more I worked with him, the more I liked him. By the end of the week, he told me he knew my co-workers treated me badly (by making me work with him). He also pointed out many other ways they treated me badly.
He had been asking our information services person to provide me a new mouse for my computer all week because mine was not working properly. I never did get a new mouse. He said he could not believe they expected me to do days and days of data entry with a non-functioning mouse. Here is the part that blew me away: He said the next time he comes, he will bring me a new mouse!!
We were not only able to work with each other but we became friends!!!
What a great story! When we live our life as unto the Lord, He will open doors that we never dreamed possible. In the process we will find that His ways are pleasant and rewarding. Rather than whimpering and feeling sorry for ourselves, we need to rejoice that we are worthy to face the painful situations of life.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil