It was my first management position at a new organisation and like most insightful people, you can feel negative energy just as much as you can feel positive energy. One lady with whom I had to interact, regrettably did not exude any warmth or welcome towards me and instead conveyed revulsion. At the time I contemplated a host of reasons that would cause someone who I just met to project that aura. Was it my young age, the position I held, the way I looked or maybe even the way I spoke (with that sweet Tobago flavour🙂). I didn't know and I really didn't care to know at the time, because I knew that it wouldn’t have changed the way I interacted with her, as those things are common in any work environment. I chose to be my usual friendly, to everyone.
Do not get me wrong, I sometimes indulge in my fair share of pettiness (the Lord is still working on it), but that did not show up on this occasion. I knew who I was, where I stood and most importantly, I was absolutely convinced about Who had my back. I knew that since God is for me, no power in heaven or the earth could be against me, and succeed at it (Romans 8:31).
How that lady may or may not have felt about me quickly left my thoughts as I began to do my job as best as I could. Maybe subconsciously I hoped that my attitude towards her would change her heart towards me, and although I didn't actively try to befriend her, I actively made it my business to be nice to her.
Do you remember the saying 'kill them with kindness'; well that is what I did and eventually I stopped noticing any negativity.
There is a beautiful grace with which we are endowed as believers to love our enemies and to do good to those who dislike or try to persecute us (Mathew 5:43-45). That grace allows the character of the living God to shine through us, enabling us to love others despite their faults.
Very often when people face opposition at work they try to fight back on a natural level with open antagonism or passive aggression. However, apart from the fact that we ought to fight those battles in the spiritual realm, we must be fully convinced in the face our toughest opposition that God has blessed us and established us and that there isn't a single person who can curse us. It is not that He will bless us, He HAS already blessed us!
The confidence of the believer who might feel like a grasshopper among ‘giants’, in your workplace, family, or school, is that God on your side is all the advantage you need. He promises that when a man's ways please the Lord, He will make even his enemies be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7).
When God blesses and promotes you, there isn't a single weapon that can prosper against you (Isaiah 54:17). That is the shield we walk into our jobs wearing every day. Smirks, snorts, and disdainful looks have to stand aside and just observe as God prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5).
In Numbers 22-24, despite Balak's several requests and enticements for Balaam to curse Israel, only blessings flowed from his mouth.
The meaning of the word ‘curse’ as it is used in the Bible passage is, “To utter a wish of evil against one; to imprecate evil upon; to call for mischief or injury to fall upon; to execrate”. In this context, when people try to curse you, it is not about obscenity, as much as it is about evil desires and intentions toward you.
Balak, the king of Moab, wanted Balaam to curse Israel because he saw them as a threat to the Moabites. The Bible says that he was "exceedingly fearful" that the Israelites who settled near Moab would overpower and overtake them.
The interesting thing about Balak's fear is that the Israelites probably had no concern for the Moabites. They were probably unaware of the way that they were being perceived by the Moabites. Israel was simply about their business of trying to get as far away as possible from Eygpt after being freed from years of bondage.
Isn't that usually the case when others envy or despise you; you're completely unaware of the way they feel as you go about your life? After that lady parted ways with the company it came to my attention that early in my tenure she spoke negative things about me to the leadership. I laughed then and still smile when I think about it, because I did not know that she actually made good on what I simply perceived as dislike, and because God protected me from that unseen attack.
God made a pronouncement through Balaam that Israel was blessed and similarly announces to this generation that as descendants and heirs of Christ we too are blessed. (Matthew 5:1-12)
Don't spend time worrying about who doesn't like you or who is trying to pull you down; remember that God's words about you are the only words that will have power in your life. No curse, negativity, or attack will shift the blessings God has pronounced over your life, because ...
Who God bless, no man can curse!
Love Ya,
Krystal Baynes-Hoseinee
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