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by Charlie Wolcott

No one likes being insulted or mocked. No one also likes being passed over when you are the one meant for the position for what you need to do. What is the proper response to being rejected when you are supposed to be recognized? What is the proper way to handle doing a job and being treated as though you are doing a lesser job? I write about this because this is what God is still trying instill into me.

A few weeks ago I wrote about “Amen Living,” and the lesson I wrote about this is still something that has not properly worked its way into me yet. I wrote about how we should live faithful, honest, trustworthy lives so those around us do not even have to think twice about how it is going when we are around. But what happens when you are faithful, loyal, doing your best, and you still are not being recognized for it?

In my 25 years of being a Christian, I can say this has been the biggest challenge of my life in terms of my spiritual maturity. I have always had that pure, honest, child-like faith and yet here I cannot think of another time where I have struggled so much in trusting God about a given situation. It is especially difficult to keep walking the straight line God has told you to walk, when you go the direction he’s called you to go and people that you need in your path to take you forward just do not do it.

What happens when those in authority over you seem to want to keep you where you currently are and not let you advance? What happens when you have an agreement in writing for something to happen and the other party does not follow through? I am in two situations right now where I should be getting paid and recognized for a job I am doing, when my formal title is of a lower position and a significantly lower pay. I am also in a situation where I have a contract with a company to produce something I have written and I have only received one of the three works promised in the contract. In both these cases, I have been recommended by several people to get lawyers about it. And to be honest, I really could do that and I would not be in the “wrong” to do so.

However, I have never felt any peace about going that route. One thing God has made clear to me is to NOT try to force this to happen. It has been very difficult to obey that. I cannot tell you how many times I have vented my frustrations to God wanting to rip some heads off. David understood these feelings; just read through the Psalms as his enemies chased him from cave to cave. David wanted God to smite them, but he put his trust in God. One thing that is amazing about David is that he always praised God for who he is and what he has done, despite being constantly rejected and being hunted by an enemy that wanted him dead.

What did David do in all this? Did he seek to solve the problems in his own means? Actually no. David was the anointed king of Israel and he had an opportunity to take the throne and kill Saul. One of his best men had a spear pointed to Saul’s head while he slept. And David said “Don’t touch him!” It’s easy to read about, but when you are living a situation that resembles it, it’s not so easy to say, “I’d do that too.”

David was a man who experienced a lot of rejection and unworthy recognition and pay for what he did. And yet every time, he did not take legal means as he could have, nor did he take matters into his own hands. That is what God has told me to do in both my situations. Do not try to force their hand. Do not try to make it happen. I’ve seen in my time on the mission field what happens when people get the call to go to missions and they jump the gun, going before God has them ready. It does not end well. I could easily hire a lawyer and force those I am dealing with to do what I want them to do. But how would that really benefit me in the long run? Will it help my witness? Will it help me grow? I can easily see it ending in disaster and doing far more damage than I’d like.

As hard as all that is, there is one thing that is even harder: taking the humble position. Stop grumbling about the situation that is not as you think it should be, even if what is being done to you is legitimately wrong on any level. Is God not above the situation? Does he not turn the heads of those in authority to do as he wishes? Do you (or I) complain about your situation every time the topic comes up, or do you speak what God is doing through the situation? In mine, while I am not being recognized for the job I am doing, what I am doing has done more for me in preparation for the job I want to be recognized for than anything in the past.

Again back to David: after being anointed king, he went back to the sheep. He was not recognized for what Samuel did for him, but he also did not complain about it. He stayed humble and did what he was asked to do without whining or complaining. But as he dealt with the sheep, he encountered the lion and the bear. And that lion and bear prepared him for what would come with a giant. And that giant was a challenge that those best trained in man’s ways could not handle. But a young boy, trained with sheep and loyal to God’s Word, could take him down.

What is God preparing us for? When the world slights us, when they pass us over, reject us, or hold us back when we are supposed to be heading towards a destination God has given us, do we trust the giver of our mission? Or do we more trust the obstacles in our path to keep us from it? I’m still learning this. And it’s a lesson I would like each of us to grasp.

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