Not Unto men…

Dear friends

Every once in a while, there’s a window open for a bit to take a peek into the lives of the persons behind the blogs…….in my life, a prayer has been answered by GOD, I have been praying for this for 5 years and now it has come through:

I have finally landed a payed job as a prison chaplain.
Hallelujah!
I am happy and I feel very honored, yet I am also very humbled and do not take this office for granted.
I have been working in the Criminal Justice Field for years now as a Support Worker and I have been volunteering for a chaplaincy in another prison for more than 3 years – I feel I am well prepared and yet, I have respect for what comes with this appointment:
the responsibility and having to give an account for the souls I will be pastoring – which are roundabout 1000 – as a beginner, it seems like a huge amount!
Of course, not everybody will be receiving the message I will bring, there will be a lot of people following different beliefs / religions and also many atheists or non-religious people within the staff and the residents of the establishments I will look after……however, I will pray daily for all of them, as I would have as a volunteer.

This journey hasn’t been an easy one!

And as I said, it took me 5 years and lots of struggles, prayers, fasting, overcoming and battling to get there – and this is “only” a part-time position for the weekends – so I am actually starting 2 new jobs in the next few days – a worldly one and a spiritual one……

I am praying for everything to be different to my previous jobs, for ME to be different.

There was a lot of vindication, exclusion, mocking, ostracizing and belittling going on in my jobs ever since I got born again.
And it varied how well I was able to cope with it.
I made some huge mistakes, too!
But as we know, GOD is faithful and HE brought me through.

As I said, I have been praying a lot for a payed job within my calling and also for a job which would enable me to pay my bills and perhaps put a penny or two to the side…..

During the period when both jobs manifested – the one in custody literally appeared out of nowhere!!! (but that’s a testimony for another time) – I’ve been fasting, so I think it is fair to say that I have been my most humble, but also my most sharpest self in the interviews – and GOD did the rest – in fact, I was actually surprised about some of my own answers and about my overall “performance” – I literally smashed it in both interviews and I would have offered me the jobs as well LOL
Of course we know that it was divine favour, nothing else!!!!
The job as a minister, these jobs are extremely sought after and there are tons of people applying who have more experience in the (payed) position and are decorated with more certificates and qualifications for sure – and mind you, these are ALL people of GOD, so I can’t even say that they don’t deserve GOD’s favour – but the way this job “popped up” all of a sudden – in a way that I would “normally” not have seen it, but GOD led me to that page where I had never looked for jobs before…. it didn’t even have a closing date and the title was wrong, so I literally believe that it was hidden there for me – and then in the interview, the questions couldn’t have been more “made” for me!
Everything was aligned – it was one of those “GOD” moments (actually both interviews were).
I knew that it was my time.
Just a few weeks ago, in November, I was even SO guttered when the job I thought was my job didn’t come through – they didn’t even invite me to interview, even though (or perhaps because???) they knew me – it was a job as a prison chaplain in “my prison” and I am as certain as water is wet that GOD has promised me this job – well, it may still come through, but not at this point in time……
The one I have now is much better to start with, a manager who will teach me the ropes and who will look after me, the manager in the other team is not like that and he also isn’t a Christian – this one is even from the same denomination, in fact, from a befriended church – and I was happy when I saw him, because having a manager who has the same GOD is very reassuring for me and I believe it will help me greatly to settle into this new role and grow into these shoes before I go to “my prison” and swim with the sharks in the pool……….

Why am I saying all that.

In the case of the prison chaplain job, GOD has opened a better door for me.
Plus, we have become more intimate, much closer, through what we talked about during my time of devastation……
And I am very grateful because I can see how beneficial this arrangement is for me in so many ways.
And I was sooooo down – I wanted to give up, drop all my prison service activities…. but everyone (that’s why it is so important to have godly people in our lives!!!) said I should push through and it is only a test – so I hung in there, and lo and behold, only about 6 weeks down the line, GOD gave me a new and better “thing”.
GOD is AWESOME!!!!

And that’s why I will trust him with the other, worldly job as well!
It is a working environment which is often toxic and as much as I enjoy working with the clients, it is also often extremely stressful due to systemic challenges that I won’t go into now…..and managers in this field are normally not easy to work with - at least not for me.

BUT I am still fasting, GOD has given me this job and it is the answer to my prayers.

So I was thinking about what I can do to make it work better this time.
What I can do to be different, to give out a different vibe and to create more harmony.

I will do my best to be more obedient and submissive to my new worldly employer and team mates and manager!

I will treat them as my GOD given managers just like in the other job.
I will treat this as my ministry as well and since I have been appointed now, there is also no more “misbehaving” (in my case normally manifesting as getting annoyed or in a worse case scenario even getting triggered by wickedness and letting them provoke me) or reacting to any of the plots of the enemy.
As much as I will love it, I am quite sure there will also be tons of stuff bothering me – in both jobs actually – and I will be treating everything coming my way as being from GOD!
I will NOT be judging anyone for not believing or not knowing the truth, I will NOT be preferring Christians over non-Christians and I will be grateful for EVERY opportunity to represent CHRIST and HIS LOVE.

I think it will also be good for me to have 2 jobs – not only can I use the extra cash, but it will also help me balance things out and not to get too frustrated or excited with one of the 2 – I know it sounds weird but I know this will suit my personality, as I can get over-involved and over-enthusiastic with a new job, especially in the beginning…. I think this strategy would work in other areas of my life as well 🙂

So this is basically my strategy, my vow, my new approach and attitude.

My managers and colleagues, no matter how much or how little I like their ways, are ALL appointed by GOD and appointed to be in my life at this point.

I will do everything, conduct every conversation, lead every interaction as if I was talking to GOD, interacting with GOD – and I will trust HIM and I will treat them as if they are the greatest blessing for my life and I for theirs.

Collosians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, and not unto men;

This is a new experiment for me and I can’t wait to see the results!
I know that it will broaden my horizon like nothing I have ever done before, and I truly pray and hope that I can maintain this attitude, because I KNOW it will change my life, my outcomes, my perspectives, I will learn so much more than before, will receive so much more help than ever, will build work relationships that are so much better than the ones I had in the past.

I will keep you posted!

How about you, my friend, have you ever changed your perspective on something and how did it go?
Please let us know in the comments.

I hope and pray that this will encourage you, inspire you, heal you and bless you.
And I pray that THE LORD will bless you abundantly in all areas of your life; that HE will keep you and shine HIS face upon you and bring you peace. In JESUS name I pray. AMEN.