What You Ought to Say

 

“For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 12:12

In Exodus 3:13, Moses asks God to tell him what he should say to the children of Israel upon his return to Egypt. In essence, Moses was asking God to tell him what he should do. God responds by telling Moses exactly what to say (Exodus 3:14-17). I suspect that Moses may have been afraid that the leaders of Israel would not believe him and he needed to know what to say and what to do to convince both them and the leaders of Egypt. God responded by teaching Moses what he should say.

This reminds me of what Jesus taught His disciples in Luke 12:8-12, as He prepared them to face leaders who would not quickly buy into His message of salvation. Jesus understood that anyone who was bold enough to preach His Gospel would be opening themselves up to the possibility of being attacked for their beliefs. These attacks would come from regular everyday people, and from religious leaders and government authorities. When (not if) this happened, Jesus wanted to reassure His followers that the Holy Spirit would teach them exactly what they should say, exactly when they needed to say it. This was His promise to stand with His followers in these situations.

We live in a fallen world in which people are persecuted for being followers of Christ. Here in the United States, we do not see this as much as people in other countries but eventually that kind of persecution will come to our shores, or should I say, it shall increase in occurrence. When we face questions or even persecution, be it from our neighbors or from the government, God will respond just as He did with Moses. Trust that the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you should say. Then, in full obedience, speak and let God’s words change hearts around you.

Are You Where You Should Be?

While walking with my headphones the other day I heard an ad for a career coaching service that caught my attention. The ad began with a voice that was supposed to be AI generated, describing how it had scanned several databases where it discovered that a large percentage of “humans” are unhappy in their jobs. In the past, I would be one of those unhappy humans if God had not gotten my attention and changed my approach to the daily grind.

For me, things changed when God asked a very simple question. Was I where I should be? I wanted to say no but that answer presented a bit of a problem. If I was not where I should be then either God was not in control, or I was not fully yielded to Him. Well, I knew that God was in control, so if the answer was no then it was a sign of my own rebellion. I realized that to be fully yielded to Him, I had to let Him answer the question. Fortunately, the answer was yes, I was where I should be.

But if I was where I should be, why was I unhappy? This led me to another question, or I should say God asked me another question. Was I there for the right reason? To this I had to answer a resounding, “No!”. God helped me see that my reason for being there was for the paycheck and out of fear that I could not provide for my family if I didn’t stick things out. I wasn’t there to serve God, although if you had asked, I would have told you that was the reason. I was telling myself a lie and God called me on it.

I had to humble myself and choose to trust that God would provide, no matter what. My focus moved from the paycheck to seeking Him and doing what He wants me to do. When my focus changed, I began to find fulfillment in my job. My tasks got easier and a problem coworker became less of a problem. Eventually, God moved me into a different position which is even more fulfilling than the previous one and pays more as well. But my focus is still the same and I start each workday by thanking God and asking Him what He wants me to do.

I’m not against anyone using a career coaching service but I do believe that before doing so, one should seek God. Whether or not you are happy with your job, you need to be humble before the Lord, asking Him if you are where you are supposed to be and are you there for the right reasons. Ultimately, we all should be looking to God for fulfillment and not the job or the paycheck. Ask daily and let God lead you where He wants you to go so that you can truly serve Him. Let God put you where you should be and for the right reasons. 

Should A Restaurant Keep Its Word?

 Is it too much to expect people to keep their word? What about a restaurant?

I’m thinking about adding a new restaurant to my “never go to” list after what can only be described as bad service this past Valentine’s Day. Knowing that everyone and their momma would be out that night, I made a reservation at a nearby P.F. Chang’s. We headed there early, to make sure we were there well before our reserved time. And when I saw the crowd standing in the lobby, I was glad that we had a reservation.

The two young hostesses were very polite as they checked us in and explained that we would receive a text when our table was ready. As it was chilly outside, we decided to find a spot in the lobby so that we could remain inside. From where we were standing, we could see into the dining room and as we looked upon the diners enjoying their food, I thought about how lucky we were to have a reservation.

And then the time for our reservation passed and we began to wonder how much longer we would be standing there. That’s when we overheard a conversation between another customer and our hostesses, the gist of which was that his reservation was for fifteen minutes before ours and he still had an estimated 45-minute wait. When asked how he would have to wait until a total of 60 minutes to get his reserved table, the hostesses admitted that their system had overbooked. Looking at the crowd in the lobby, I think that was an understatement. That’s when we cancelled our reservation and walked out of the restaurant.

Fortunately, as we walked to the car, we spotted a restaurant called Blue Agave which advertised as an authentic Mexican restaurant. They were able to seat us in less than five minutes, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal with really good service. In fact, I think it was better than what we would have gotten had we waited for over an hour at the other place. If you’re in or near Warrington, PA, I highly recommend making a trip to Blue Agave.

As for P.F. Chang’s? As I said earlier, it might go on my “never go to” list joining T.G.I. Friday’s after an incident years ago at one of its franchises. The way I see it, a reservation is a restaurant giving me its word that there will be a table for me when I arrive. In exchange, I agree to show up and spend money. On Valentine’s Day, I showed up cash in hand but found no table available. The restaurant did not keep its word.

See also: The Worst Restaurant Service Ever