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December 26th 2010, 09:15 AM IMC Bangalore, Testimony Sunday
Hi everyone, my name is Charles I've been reflecting on the last couple of years
and.. seeing how really God has taught me to..walk and work in His will
and I must tell you what the changing point was, in my life.
It was... July 2007... when I was having... there was a problem in the company
there was a lot of management restructure and 4 bosses later, I was having really lot of stress with my boss
and he did everything that he could to really make my life difficult
because... he wanted control, I was the IT guy he thought he could use me to... get control
but, everyday I used to pray I used to have a verse and go to the office
God would tell me: I will be with you, I will protect you.. and all that
This happened for a whole month
and it was not really working for me because I was under a lot of stress
The 4th Sunday of July, when I came to church, the message was: "Thy will be done"
they had taken the Lord's prayer and.. the section was "Thy will be done"
The pastor was saying, " Do you know what it means? Thy will be done?"
(Pastor): "If you really want to pray this prayer and say.. 'Thy will be done'.. you should be able to commit yourself into God's hands"
(Pastor): "It may not.. His will may not be anything what you are thinking about"
and.. I was there sitting in the.. in the.. church here,
and I was saying, "God, I think I want Your will to be done because it is not really working for me"
and the closing song was "Have Thine own way, Lord"
and the pastor said: "If you really mean it, if you really mean it"
"Sing this song and commit yourself into God's hands, otherwise don't sing this song"
and I sat there and I said, "God, I am going to commit my ways into your hands, Have Thine own way, Lord"
and the next day in the morning.. when I was praying, I had a very different kind of a verse
It was Proverbs 20:24. The verse was:
(Prov 20:24) "Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
and I was very surprised, but.. for me.. it told me that
'Man's goings are of the Lord', which means that my ways are now going to be of the Lord. 29 00:01:60,100 --> 00:02:03,900 The whole day was very peaceful. In the evening at 4 o'clock, the CEO called me.
He said, "I want to have a small chat with you"
and he said, "Well, you are a very expensive resource, we cannot afford you, and we want you to leave".. and that was it
I was actually quite peaceful because I was sure that this is the Lord's way
and I came home.. and.. I was praying.. and I was very happy..
I said, "Ok, God wants me to look for another job.. and that's fine with me"
I.. took the next month.. and he.. told me that
You have a 2 months notice, you don't need to come to office, you will be on the payrolls,
you will get your salary just the way you get it normally, and September 30th is your last day
So I took the entire month of August, to go out search for jobs
All the HR people were very friendly, they shortlisted me, but nobody ever released an offer letter
That was the period when the industry was also not doing very well
and I was praying, and I was saying" Lord, what is this? Why is it, I have gone according to Your will, but nothing is working"
and I was very, very confused.
And then God said in Psalms 119:71,72 44 00:02:60,000 --> 00:03:02,400 (Psa 119:71) It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees
(Psa 119:72) The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold
and then I knew that God really wanted me to use this time to draw closer to Him, rather than chase behind money
but I was not sure what His will is still, and I was just praying about it
September came in, nobody was calling me I was shortlisted in most of the MNcs,
but nothing was really materializing, and I was really getting upset and worried
and then I started praying, "Lord, what is it that you want me to do now
because, I am still not getting an answer and I am running out of time"
And I got an SMS from one of my friends. It said:
(Matthew 5:44) But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
I was not very happy when I saw this SMS, because..
I was just thinking of the CEO and I definitely did not want to.. forgive him.
I said, "God.. he made my life miserable, though I was very upright
and.. you know.. correct in what I was doing, and this is something I really do not want to do"
and then I went back to pray and I said, "God, you need to tell me whether this is something I really need to do"
and God spoke to me again in Romans 12:19 60 00:03:60,500 --> 00:04:06,500 (Rom 12:19) Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord
and I was very, very upset..
because that was something that was very difficult for me to do... forgive that guy
and I went down on my knees, tears rolled down my cheeks and I said,
"God, I forgive this guy" but I really didn't mean anything at all
and then I tried again.. and after few days, I really began to feel a compassion for this person
and I think.. that.. I felt that this person really did not know what he was doing
He really had not had a heart and he had done what he had done to me, and I forgave him
I had come.. I had come to the last week of September and officially I would have been unemployed on September 30th
which was a Sunday, so September 28th I should have got my offer letter
and I was saying, "God, I need it by September 28th" but I was not getting an answer still
I said, "God, I have forgiven this guy, now what do you want me to do next?"
and I was so.. down in the spirit, I said,
"God.. I don't have any energy to pray. If you do not answer me now, I will be left at a point where I will not be able to pray anymore"
and then God spoke to me, through Isaiah 60:17
(Isa 60:17) Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler
and I was so comforted when I heard this.. 'Instead of bronze I will bring you gold'
.. but I was running out of time. I.. I just had about 2 days left.. for September 28th
but still there was no response from any of the HR people and I had given up hope
I said, "God, I think.. probably September 28th is not your day"
and.. on September 28th, in the evening, I checked my email and there was nothing there.. at 5 o'clock when the HR leaves
and I said, "Ok, let me wait for God's will and see what it is"
but later in the evening at 8 o'clock, when I checked.. there was an email, with.. with an apology from the HR
"Sorry I'm late, but here is your offer letter" and they gave me a 35% increment in a period of recession
So, God had kept His commitment and He had met my September 28th timeline, which I wanted
and I was sitting yesterday in the church, listening to the Christmas message
The pastor was saying, "When God makes a promise, He will keep His promise, and His complete agenda is towards fulfilling the promise"
and I can stand here and testify that it has been 3 years now
and I have always seen in every step of my life that God has give me 'gold' in place of 'bronze'
So, I just want to close with a request, a prayer request..
Those of you who know the Lord, please pray for me and my wife, that we should be humble and faithful to Him, for the rest of our days. Thank you.
Testimony told for the first time, on 'Testimony Sunday', at Indiranagar Methodist Church, Bangalore