Content or Not

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. ~Phillipians 4:11-13

Today, I got an angry call from one of the babysitters for our women’s ministry. I had had to let him go due to not enough kids and too many sitters. I prayed about who to let go ad how to go about it then called and left a message. He got the message today and began making excuses, blaming others for his behavior (he had left the kids alone repeatedly.) His mother got on the phone and began to angrily argue over why I had let him go. I, as a means of keeping things simple, had not originally gone into the main reason I had chosen him out of the 7 babysitters. I hadn’t wanted to hurt feelings and so had chosen the simpler route (especially since I was calling an answering machine). I tried to gently explain the full reason which she finally accepted, though she continued to place the blame elsewhere.
My immediate response was to try to fix things, but I couldn’t. I knew I had to let a babysitter go. The rest were doing a good job. He wasn’t. I knew he, like the others, was trying to raise money to go on the youth retreat this year. I longed to help. I wanted to step in and say, “Hey, yeah. It was all a mistake. Come back and we will work it out,” but I couldn’t. He got off the phone and called some of my other babysitters, making waves. I contacted my superiors with the whole story, just in case.

My guts ache. Even now I write this in tears, overwhelmed with the longing to be able to change things, yet knowing that there is nothing I can do. It pains me to see a promising young man lean on his mother in that way. I want to stop him, to shake him, to say, “Stop placing the blame on others. Accept responsibilty for your own actions. Get it together now before you mess things up later on and place the blame elsewhere.”

I long to look his mother in the eye and remind her that she needs to be an example to him. If she steps in and gets him a job then fights for it when he messes up, if she “fixes” all his mistakes, if she behaves in an un-Christ-like manner when someone says “no” to her son, then she is not helping him.
I was just like him when I was his age. I blamed everything and everyone for my mistakes. I looked to my parents to step in and make a fuss when I didn’t get my way (often twisting the truth to make myself look like the good guy.) It took me years to learn the truth; I am responsible for my own actions. It took me ages to stop complaining about my circumstances, to stop explaining things to everyone, to stop whining about not getting my way, to realize that God’s plan for me was contentment and that I wouldn’t get my way until I learned contentment in the worst circumstances. I pray that that young man and his mom will learn it now, before the consequences are bigger and the stakes higher.
My heart aches because I know I did the right thing but that he will not see it. His mother will not see it. They will continue to be offended and all I can do is offer it up to my Lord and Saviour. He alone can help them see past the hurt to the truth. He alone can help them get over it and realize that maybe the son needs to work on his babysitting skills if he wants this sort of job. I need to, like Joseph, step back, forgive, and let it be, knowing that God will bring about good. I can’t fix things, only He can.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ~Genesis 50:20

What injustice are you facing today?  What might the Lord be teaching you through it?

Lord, I place this circumstance, and every other case of misunderstanding, of misplaced blame, of hurt and lashing out that any one of us is going through in Your perfect Hands. Lord, You know how to deal with each of our situations, whether it is with an employee, an employer, a husband, a child, a friend, or a stranger. You know exactly how to handle it, and have promised to use it for good. Help us to remember that when we pray for wisdom You will give it but tht we need to stick with what You have given us. Help us to have patience and learn from those who would hurt us. Use these occasions of pain to grow us in You. Help us to have gentle spirits and peaceful hearts, that we may show You to all those around us …… And Lord, if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, could You PLEASE put someone else in charge of the babysitters???? Thy will be done. Amen

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