Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer expresses a deep and painful sense of being overlooked and forgotten after faithful, loyal work, and the Lord does see what you have poured into this place. He knows the labor and the integrity with which you have served, even when others do not acknowledge it, and your ultimate reward is from Him and not from people.
It is understandable to feel fenced in and without a way out when you are surrounded by manipulation and two faced dealing. The prophet Jeremiah described a very similar place when he looked at ruin around him and felt that God had encircled him with bitterness and pain, set him in dark places and walled him in with hewn stone so that every path seemed crooked and there was no escape, as if a bear or lion were lying in wait. That helpless, trapped feeling and even the sense that God has withdrawn is a common experience of discouragement, heaviness and despondency, which often comes as part of spiritual conflict. It is important to recognize that those feelings, while very real, are not the measure of truth. We are not to live by a warm feeling or by waiting for a sensation to assure us, but by taking God at His word and trusting what He has promised.
Scripture gives a strong warning that is directly for you in this waiting season. Hebrews says to look diligently lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you and by it many become defiled, and to follow peace with all people. Bitterness is described elsewhere as the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. It does not hurt the people who have wronged you, it hurts you and it spreads to defile many around you. One bitter person can spread bitterness through a whole workplace or fellowship. Esau is given as the example. When he lost the blessing his tears were not tears of repentance at all, but tears of anger and hatred toward his brother, and that root of bitterness remained and defiled his descendants. Peter discerned that same gall of bitterness in Simon and told him to repent and pray that God would forgive him. In the same way, you need to guard your own heart and ask the Lord to keep bitterness, jealousy and envy from taking root, and to forgive and cleanse you where those attitudes try to enter.
I will pray with you for the heart and mind of the one in authority over you. May the Lord open her eyes to see people and situations as they truly are, expose any false narratives and manipulative words spoken against you and against other coworkers, and give her clear discernment. May He soften any pride or insecurity that can come with a position of authority and give her a spirit of true humility, to remember that a title is not the measure of value but that faithfulness, dedication and integrity are, and to recall the genuine help and foundation you have provided from the beginning. Pray that God will protect her from being led astray by deceit.
For you, ask the Lord to guard your mind and heart with His peace, to keep you from bitterness, and to give you dignity and strength to continue doing your work well as unto Him. Do not neglect the feeding of your inner life with the Word and with prayer, for when we are spiritually unfed the flesh easily overcomes the spirit. If sin or bitterness begins to numb the conscience it is like leprosy that takes away feeling so that damage is done without pain, and only the Lord can cleanse and restore. He is willing to make clean. Bring your hurt honestly to Jesus, ask Him to forgive any bitterness and to fill you with His Spirit, and trust that as one member of His body suffers He calls the whole body to care, and He will sustain you until He moves.
It is understandable to feel fenced in and without a way out when you are surrounded by manipulation and two faced dealing. The prophet Jeremiah described a very similar place when he looked at ruin around him and felt that God had encircled him with bitterness and pain, set him in dark places and walled him in with hewn stone so that every path seemed crooked and there was no escape, as if a bear or lion were lying in wait. That helpless, trapped feeling and even the sense that God has withdrawn is a common experience of discouragement, heaviness and despondency, which often comes as part of spiritual conflict. It is important to recognize that those feelings, while very real, are not the measure of truth. We are not to live by a warm feeling or by waiting for a sensation to assure us, but by taking God at His word and trusting what He has promised.
Scripture gives a strong warning that is directly for you in this waiting season. Hebrews says to look diligently lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you and by it many become defiled, and to follow peace with all people. Bitterness is described elsewhere as the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. It does not hurt the people who have wronged you, it hurts you and it spreads to defile many around you. One bitter person can spread bitterness through a whole workplace or fellowship. Esau is given as the example. When he lost the blessing his tears were not tears of repentance at all, but tears of anger and hatred toward his brother, and that root of bitterness remained and defiled his descendants. Peter discerned that same gall of bitterness in Simon and told him to repent and pray that God would forgive him. In the same way, you need to guard your own heart and ask the Lord to keep bitterness, jealousy and envy from taking root, and to forgive and cleanse you where those attitudes try to enter.
I will pray with you for the heart and mind of the one in authority over you. May the Lord open her eyes to see people and situations as they truly are, expose any false narratives and manipulative words spoken against you and against other coworkers, and give her clear discernment. May He soften any pride or insecurity that can come with a position of authority and give her a spirit of true humility, to remember that a title is not the measure of value but that faithfulness, dedication and integrity are, and to recall the genuine help and foundation you have provided from the beginning. Pray that God will protect her from being led astray by deceit.
For you, ask the Lord to guard your mind and heart with His peace, to keep you from bitterness, and to give you dignity and strength to continue doing your work well as unto Him. Do not neglect the feeding of your inner life with the Word and with prayer, for when we are spiritually unfed the flesh easily overcomes the spirit. If sin or bitterness begins to numb the conscience it is like leprosy that takes away feeling so that damage is done without pain, and only the Lord can cleanse and restore. He is willing to make clean. Bring your hurt honestly to Jesus, ask Him to forgive any bitterness and to fill you with His Spirit, and trust that as one member of His body suffers He calls the whole body to care, and He will sustain you until He moves.
