I can recall my own experiences with special coworkers. One such experience happened when I worked in customer service. I had been on this job for a year and excelled at it. I had no ambition to do anything other than what I was doing for this company at the time, but management noticed my talents and I was often recommended for special projects that required time away from my desk.
Another employee did not seem to like that, or me; I’m not really sure. Though she’d worked at this company for a significantly longer amount of time than I had, I could not recall ever having one conversation with her. But suddenly, she was aware of who I was, and I was aware of her.
I’d walked into a room and she’d begin to whisper to other coworkers while looking in my direction and laughing. If I had a case that I needed to send her way, she would promptly send it back to me without explanation. This went on for weeks.
Finally, I was fed up, so I decided to pray about it. The response I received from God guided my life for many years after, and even does to this day. It contained six words with huge impact:
She sees the god in you.
Now, God didn’t say it to me exactly that way, but this was the heart behind it. From those words, a life philosophy emerged: people’s issues with you are not really about you at all.
When you’ve not given others a reason to be offended with you, we have to understand that sometimes the situation is spiritual. I believe that in those moments, the problem a person has with you is truly God’s problem — they have a problem with God, so it’s up to God to move on your behalf. It’s up to God to speak for you. It’s up to God to soften their heart toward you.
The light that believers walk in is intimidating to those who don’t understand it. John 1:5 says that our light shines in darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it. However, even though our love and light is not easily understood, we should not stop exuding it. God gives us everything we need to endure long suffering for his sake.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about a thorn in his side. Verses 8–10 read
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)
Being singled out never seems fair. I know for me in that situation all those years ago, it didn’t feel that way. But God provides sufficient grace. His grace makes us content with whatever we are experiencing because then he is known all the more.
In this situation, I could have confronted the coworker directly. I could have gone to the other coworkers she gossiped with concerning me. But where would God be glorified in that situation? In all we do, even in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in calamities, let the light of God shine to further confound those who have yet to encounter his love. His grace is sufficient.
Featured photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash; in-text photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
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