Employed by the King
I had a dentist’s appointment the other day. It was set about a year ago for my annual checkup. I went this whole year without any complications, and one week before my appointment, one of my crowns came loose. At first, I thought how fortunate I was that it happened so close to my appointment. I figured God must have known it was going to happen when it did, so I was grateful He was looking out for me. I thanked Him as I always try to be grateful to Him in all things, but I did not ask Him about His plans in this matter as I thought it was all a part of having to live in a physical body. I have been working on a new book, Ministering to Our Father, and it has been taking up a lot of my time. I was really hoping this dentist appointment was not going to distract me from working on my book, but I did not think about how my Father might have other plans regarding my employment to the King.
The week of my appointment was challenging to say the least. I have been having some spiritual struggles with someone I love who is not walking with the Lord, and my heart has been broken for her as I have spent time with my Father on her behalf in prayer. She has not been receiving God’s love that I have been offering her, but it has not been for a lack of trying on my part. I have also been speaking with a sister in Christ who has been struggling with finding work, and my wife and I have been praying for her that she might find the job where the Lord wants her to be. She has been discouraged, so I have been praying for a way to help encourage her. I have felt like something was going on in the spirit that was trying to take my focus off my main priority of ministering to my Father by loving those He sets in my path, but I did not understand what was happening exactly until I went to the dentist.
Serving the Lord can be a bit challenging sometimes because the things of this world seem to distract us from our primary focus of finding and doing His will. We must constantly be in His presence, so we can feel the subtle leading of the Spirit as we are listening for His voice. The dentist checked out my damaged tooth and tried to fix it in the office, but they were not able to resolve the problem. The dental assistant was very nice, and I had a chance to share the Lord with her while I was there. I was grateful for an opportunity to serve my Father in this way and thanked Him for the opportunity, but I knew this was not the end of it.
It can be a challenge sometimes to get an opening in the VA, but God arranged for there to be an opening the following day. The dental assistant told me she would not be there, but there would be a new dental assistant taking care of me. I left the office wondering what the Lord had planned for me in all of this, and when I got home, I shared the experience with my wife. We thanked the Lord that He had everything under control, and we rested in His will and timing. I knew that the Lord had been using me to show His love to people the past two weeks, but I did not expect to be used in the way that He was going to use me the next day.
When I arrived at the dentist’s office the next day, I was greeted by the new dental assistant. She came into the room, and immediately, I could tell she was struggling. She was on the verge of tears as she told me about the fear she was having over her new job. She told me that her husband and her both worked for the government, and they were terrified that they were going to be losing their jobs because of all the layoffs going on. I had never met this lady, and her openness and candor were quite revealing. I knew she was hurting in her spirit, and my Father had divinely appointed this meeting to tell her of His love for her.
I began telling her my own story of how God had taken care of me while I was away from Him. I was able to share my personal testimony of God’s saving grace in my life. The dentist took longer than normal to get in the room, and for about twenty minutes, I had this young lady’s undivided attention. She was like a dried sponge, and she soaked up every word of hope and love I had to offer. As we talked, I came to understand why she was suffering from so much fear. She shared with me about how she had lost someone close to her recently, and the loss was still painfully obvious in her soul. Eventually, the dentist made it into the room, so our conversation was put on pause for a moment.
The dentist told me she did not have much hope for being able to save the crown that had become loose, and it would most likely have to be cut off. She was going to give it one last try, but the alternative was going to be much lengthier and require me to come back in a few more times. In my conversation with the young lady, I had told her how I trusted in the Lord to take care of me in all things, so when the dentist told me about her grim outlook, I simply glanced at the young lady and smiled. Miraculously, the dentist was able to resolve my problem fairly quickly, shocking both of them. I looked again at the dental assistant and said, “See, the Lord had me.” She smiled and prepared to get me ready to leave.
The dentist said goodbye and stepped out of the room. I asked the girl her name to which she said, “Deborah.” I asked her about her relationship with Jesus, and she said she was a believer. She still seemed a bit distraught, so I asked her if I could pray with her. She agreed, so I placed my hand on her arm and began to pray. I asked the Lord to fill her with His love and peace, and I asked for Him to increase her faith to trust in Him. I don’t remember everything I said, but that is not uncommon for me when the Lord speaks through me. I let the Holy Spirit do the praying because He knows what to say better than I do. When I finished, I looked up at her face, and it was glowing. She was smiling ear to ear, and she said, “I know the Lord sent you here today just for me.”
We spent another twenty minutes talking about the Lord and His loving kindness towards us. As I left the office, I thanked the Lord that He would allow me to serve Him in this way. I was grateful for the problem with my tooth because it had allowed me to be in the right place at the right time to minister to a sister in Christ as if unto Him. I realized, He was allowing me to share His love with someone who really needed it, and who was willing to receive it. This was not the case with the unsaved person that I was trying to love earlier in the week. I was encouraged that the Lord would entrust me with sharing His love with both of them, but I knew He was encouraging me as well by placing this sister in Christ in my path.
We work for the King, and He sends us out to minister to His subjects. Some of those subjects are walking in rebellion towards Him, but others are simply struggling in their faith and need some of His encouragement and love. The Lord allowed me to love them as He loves me by having my Father do His work of love in me that day. I was a vessel for the Holy Spirit to love on His daughter, and she recognized Him in me. I cannot imagine working for anyone better than our King.
Our King knows everything and everyone, and He has the power to do His work in us. I was even able to tell this story to the other sister in Christ who I have been praying over to find a job. She was encouraged to know she also had a job as an ambassador for Christ, and her value was in her identity as a daughter of God and not an employee of man. My experience was able to encourage her faith to believe for our Father’s perfect will in her life. If you find yourself in a struggle, remember that our King always has you on an assignment, and your struggle might be the open door He needs to touch someone else’s life with His love.
