Today I’m bummed because I’ve had a business problem and had to tell a friend that the job I was paying them for wasn’t acceptable. Of course they’re upset and so am I. I hate that. Why can’t things in this world go smoothly? I talk alot about that in God for Everyone, but it’s still painful and requires some serious soul searching.
First I hired this person without getting references and all the “smart business” things I need to do. I did so consciously, trying to just “walk through the doors God opened.” This one turned out painfully – does that mean I got my marching orders wrong? Was I supposed to do it the worlds way and take responsibility for researching and finding the “best” person and then fight hard to negociate the “best” contract? I still don’t think so. As I’m replaying how this all happened I keep hearing the Holy Spirit’s wee small voice saying “I have a different agenda.” So if I “go spiritual” and look at this from God’s perspective as I understand it; is it not possible that God used me to point out to this person that their business practices were not ones that were going to make them ultimately successful? Is it possible that I was obedient to “follow my gut” and walk through the door that was open and then do the hard thing and as lovingly as I was able, tell this person about the problems? Is it possible that God allowed me to “fail,” and not have the process go smoothly. Most of my generation was raised with the interpretation that “God is Love,” (meaning soft and easy) and so confronting a problem always seems “mean” and un-loving. But we all know intellectually that it’s not that simple. God is also Perfection, and Holiness, and Justice. Is is just for me to be the “dormat” and always accept the unacceptable and pay the price anyway for others failures? I am absolutely certain that God does call us to pay the price, and bite the bullet and be abused by others for some Godly outcome we can’t know about. But could there not be a Godly outcome in standing up for the better, even in the face of conflict? Absolutely. It’s still hard for me to not accuse myself of not being the “bad guy” when I stand up for righteousness, and I don’t do it easily; but I’m learning that God’s ways are not our ways and if God chose to lead me into a “failure,” I have to be OK with that. Why is it that I am surprised that getting on God’s train of thought requires me to think so differently!
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