I was once told that, when you are finding it hard to cope with someone or a situation, if you trust in God and follow His commandments, He will either change the heart of the other person, take you out of the situation altogether or change your heart. It has just occurred to me that all three of these things have happened to me in the last few years. The first time I came to know the reality of this was quite a long time ago when I had to work alongside a lady who was making me very miserable, although I would be hard pressed to put my finger on why, and I often wonder if there was some sort of evil spirit in her that was conflicting with me. It was really making me doubt myself as a Christian. How could I possibly be a Christian if I felt this way about another person? I was not the only one in the office to feel unsettled and the whole situation was becoming so unbearable that I was seriously considering finding another job - having been in the same employment for 20 years meant this was a major decision to make, but I was prepared to go. I happened to go along to a prayer meeting one evening and there it was mentioned about praying for your enemies. I knew what I had to do immediately and, that night, I prayed for her and asked God to bless her and make her happy. The next morning I went into work to find the lady had handed her notice in and she left the company within the week - God had answered my prayer and taken the situation away.
More recently I was involved in making a difficult decision (I cannot explain the exact details here for confidentiality reasons) and had to place a vote which was in direct opposition to everyone else involved. The vote was whether we should take legal action against a third party and everyone else wanted to go ahead with this route. All of my Christian principles screamed at me to forgive this person and just let things go, although I knew that we were, legally, in the right and should this person be allowed to keep something that was not rightly theirs? After some very sleepless nights and a lot of praying I took the stand of saying 'no' to the prosecution route and placed my vote. Needless to say that everyone else voted to take it to the small claims court. Strangely, I was totally at peace with this and it was no longer keeping me awake at night and I knew I had done what God wanted me to. This was over six months ago and I think God must have been at work again and changed peoples hearts because everyone has been too busy to sort out the paperwork for this and nothing has happened.
I have now been at the same company for 34 years and, over that time, people have come and people have gone. The majority I have got along with very well and rarely have I worked with anyone that I did not like. However, the company has grown a lot in the last year rising from 60-70 employees to the present day 109 so it is no longer the small, family business that it once was. Amongst the new recruits there have been two members that I have found it difficult to feel comfortable with although both seem to be very proficient with their work so there would be no reason for them to go. I just thought it was simply that you can't get on with everyone and there are bound to be a few people you don't gel with in a company of that size. Then God reminded me of the time when I prayed for the lady I once worked with so I began to make a very conscious effort to go out of my way to be helpful and supportive of them - I have also prayed the same prayer as before, that they will be happy and blessed. I think God has decided that, this time, it is down to me to change because I suddenly realise that I now quite like these people and actually enjoy their company.
Only God can change your heart (or the heart of someone else), you cannot do it yourself, but, when you ask for help, be prepared for that to happen. We have one Mighty God who will always do what is best for us.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. Ezekiel 37:26-27
