| "The Battle is not Your’s.......” Copyright (c) Dec.1993 Debi Gentry After Sam and I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church we found Satan hounding us with more trials then ever. Sam’s job situation was one of them. Bob, Sam’s boss in the trucking/ excavating business, was also a congenial school friend he’s associated with for many years. Sam really enjoyed his job, Bob and his fellow workers on the day shift. The perks were also good. He made a decent wage and was allowed to use a company truck to drive back and forth to work each day. He could fill it at the company gas pump and that saved us considerably on gas money. Everything seemed so peaceful. Then the bombshell struck! Sam’s boss stated very clearly that all his employees would be working on Saturday’s. Prior to this, Saturday work had been at random. Until now, Sam hadn’t been very strongly convicted of the Sabbath, but now he was! It meant so much to him to have his Saturdays off so that he could attend church and fellowship with his own family and the church family. Sam came home that day visibly shaken, “Sarah, you know I can’t work Sabbath.” “Sam, I know God will honor your convictions. Do what you feel the Lord would want you to do.” When the boss realized Sam was not going to come to work on Saturdays, he brought it up in a meeting that he had called. “We will be working a lot of Saturdays, and it will be mandatory!” That evening when Sam arrived home he was even more disturbed, but firmly stated, “You know I can’t work on Sabbath.” And I agreed. Each day as Sam headed for work his mind was in turmoil. Will he fire me today? I wonder when I’ll lose my job. God, is it possible you could impress Bob to let me keep my job? Give me strength and courage to accept your will whichever way this job situation goes. But you know how much I love my family, and I don’t want them to have to suffer. Then one day the boss stopped Sam and had a chat with him. “Sam I like your work. You are a careful, efficient employee, but I need someone in the field to work Saturdays. The only other thing I have for you would be working in the shop in the evenings.” It seemed at this point, that Bob was having a hard time firing Sam. Could Bob be starting to respect Sam’s Sabbath? As we struggled with the situation, we felt God’s power in our lives and in the incredible support of our church family. Some of the men even came over in the evening and had prayer with our family pleading for Sam’s future. “Dear Jesus, please touch Bob’s heart if it be your will. If not, guide Sam into the job best suited for him. You’ve seen his commitment. We leave this family’s future in your hands,” Bill prayed. Shortly after this we saw the answers to our prayers in such an exciting way. Bob called Sam into his office. “Sam, since you’ve accepted my offer of the evening shift, I’ve decided to let you work earlier on Friday to avoid working on your Sabbath. However, I’ll be taking back the company truck.” We were elated! But now how would we ever drum up enough money to get our own old truck rolling? I wondered. How could we get tags, tires, battery and other necessities in such a short time? Again the Lord intervened. Bob allowed us three months before Sam had to start the evening shift. This made it possible to save up the amount we needed. In addition to the loss of the truck, I was concerned about the loss of Sam’s companionship. Our evening “togetherness” would be gone. No more cozy suppers reliving our daily joys and frustrations, or studying the Bible together. These Bible promises helped me cope: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16. “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude (of problems); for the battle is not yours but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15. As I look back on these past two years, I can only praise God for His manifold blessings. My fears were unfounded. My evenings are so busy with Bible studies, prayer meeting, helping my parents and my son that I have no time to feel alone. My husband is evening Forman, and Bob even gave him a raise more then compensating for the lost use of the truck. I realize this very difficult job situation was part of God’s plan for our lives. Not only has our faith been strengthened but we received a beautiful picture of what a church family’s love can do to sustain us. We had never dreamed that people totally unrelated could care so much. We saw Christ’s love demonstrated in their willingness to come and pray with us personally. We also knew they would continue to uphold us before God’s throne. Today we know with certainty that “the battle was not ours but the Lord’s.” |
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