Agnes spiralled into her room with glee, shutting the door behind her with the back of her hand. Oh yeah! she was excited, the crescent outside pales in beauty compared to the kind of smile playing on her lips. Her song ministration in church today was amazing, she's really grateful to God who made it go well after all her rehearsals and prayers. As she sang, she could practically feel heaven open- men and women, old and young, everyone seated in the congregation felt His presence as the glory of the Lord filled His temple.
During the ministration, people came to Altar voluntarily to surrender all to Jesus and by the time the ministration ended, many people were on their knees with heads bowed down and those who were still on their seats couldn't stop clapping. Even though the next thing after her special ministration should have been the choir ministration, this sunday, it was the Senior Pastor who collected the microphone from her and started his awesome message titled "His Glory".
During the ministration, people came to Altar voluntarily to surrender all to Jesus and by the time the ministration ended, many people were on their knees with heads bowed down and those who were still on their seats couldn't stop clapping. Even though the next thing after her special ministration should have been the choir ministration, this sunday, it was the Senior Pastor who collected the microphone from her and started his awesome message titled "His Glory".
After the service, almost all the church members came to greet and shake hands with her, appreciating God in her life and congratulating her on the success of yet another ministration. Agnes had been given the privilege to minister to people in songs every last sunday of the month and God has always been backing her up. She's heard people tell her severally that they are looking forward to the last sunday to hear her minister again. This month, even the Senior Pastor came to greet her, wow! God is definitely taking her places, glory!
Agnes said a quick prayer of thanksgiving adjusting herself of the bed. The faces of everyone who greeted her after the service came skating through her mind, she entertained the thoughts (or rather the thoughts entertained her), pondering on for a while and then dismissing every face with a smile.
Then she remembered, Cindy didn't come to greet her again this month. In all the months Agnes has been singing in church, the one consistent person Agnes has noticed who never came greeting after a ministration was Cindy, a member of the counseling team. Agnes, a quick observer had noticed that Cindy never greets her first whenever they both meet somewhere and when Agnes offers the first greeting, Cindy replies as if through her nose- no smile accompanied. Even though Agnes's sure she's older than Cindy by at least five years, Cindy calls her by her first name- something Agnes finds indigestible. Agnes' older than most of the youths in church and they all call her "Sister AG" and she in turn reciprocates the respect by calling them sis, bro, dear or sweetheart as she deems apropriate. Only Cindy! Only Cindy calls her Agnes.
"What insolence! I just have to deal with her", Agnes said with a strong resolve. And just then the Holy Spirit came knocking...
Then she remembered, Cindy didn't come to greet her again this month. In all the months Agnes has been singing in church, the one consistent person Agnes has noticed who never came greeting after a ministration was Cindy, a member of the counseling team. Agnes, a quick observer had noticed that Cindy never greets her first whenever they both meet somewhere and when Agnes offers the first greeting, Cindy replies as if through her nose- no smile accompanied. Even though Agnes's sure she's older than Cindy by at least five years, Cindy calls her by her first name- something Agnes finds indigestible. Agnes' older than most of the youths in church and they all call her "Sister AG" and she in turn reciprocates the respect by calling them sis, bro, dear or sweetheart as she deems apropriate. Only Cindy! Only Cindy calls her Agnes.
"What insolence! I just have to deal with her", Agnes said with a strong resolve. And just then the Holy Spirit came knocking...
Nobody likes it when they feel they've been disrespected or that they are not appreciated enough, even children of God, the difference is the step we take in such situations. Just when the flesh will tell you to get angry or use the power at your disposal to deal with such errant and disrespectful fellow, the Holy Spirit teaches you Wisdom, patience and tolerance.
What I refer to as Haman's error in this piece is when one starts thinking it's one's right to be honoured, respected and served by everyone, the height of this error is when one starts meting out punishments or starts getting mad or feeling seriously bad when one suspects someone or some people do not respect one enough. Hope you remember Haman in the book of Esther? (Esther 3-7) Check him out and let's learn a thing from him.
First, stop demanding respect and when people honour you consider it a gift from God and return all the glory to him. Two, stop feeling bad when people disrespect you, stop torturing yourself feeling you've probably disappointed them or you 've not lived up to their expectations. Three, stop assuming everyone you think is disrespectful actually lack manners, gently find out why they behave differently. If you find out the fault is yours in anyway, don't be too proud to adjust. More importantly, take it upon yourself to do everything godly and wise to breach gaps when
there are. Most importantly, always listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him be your joy source, don't allow the sight or thought of any man tamper with your joy. Haman's definitely not a christian, don't fall into his error. Can you gently declare like Jesus;
John 5:41
"I receive not glory from men [I crave no human honor, I look for no mortal fame],".
JesusCaresAndSoDoI- TiToluwaNiMi.
What I refer to as Haman's error in this piece is when one starts thinking it's one's right to be honoured, respected and served by everyone, the height of this error is when one starts meting out punishments or starts getting mad or feeling seriously bad when one suspects someone or some people do not respect one enough. Hope you remember Haman in the book of Esther? (Esther 3-7) Check him out and let's learn a thing from him.
First, stop demanding respect and when people honour you consider it a gift from God and return all the glory to him. Two, stop feeling bad when people disrespect you, stop torturing yourself feeling you've probably disappointed them or you 've not lived up to their expectations. Three, stop assuming everyone you think is disrespectful actually lack manners, gently find out why they behave differently. If you find out the fault is yours in anyway, don't be too proud to adjust. More importantly, take it upon yourself to do everything godly and wise to breach gaps when
there are. Most importantly, always listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him be your joy source, don't allow the sight or thought of any man tamper with your joy. Haman's definitely not a christian, don't fall into his error. Can you gently declare like Jesus;
John 5:41
"I receive not glory from men [I crave no human honor, I look for no mortal fame],".
JesusCaresAndSoDoI- TiToluwaNiMi.
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