If you had told me I would be living in another state for six months in 2020, I would not have believed you. Yet, here we are – my wife, daughter, and mom. Earlier this year, my dad and mom awoke to a damaging kitchen flood. They gingerly walked on plywood awaiting my help to get repairs started. Suddenly on February 29, my dad went to be with Jesus a few hours after a massive stroke. One of the last things he said to my mom was, “I’ll be OK”. He certainly is!
Thirty days later, my 88-year old mom had a minor stroke and needed our care. We moved from the Charlotte, NC area to her home in Georgia to love her by caring for her. We are very grateful to Jesus that she is greatly improved. Ellen and I knew in our spirit that we were to invite her to live with us. That meant not only repairing the flood damage but also preparing her house to sell. We hired a company that explained it would take about eight weeks to complete everything. As of today, we are entering our twentieth week!
From day one, it seemed like every single day brought a problem – work done incorrectly, not ordering enough material, lack of communication, and poor project management. The problems were so rampant, it took its toll on us emotionally. Just keeping it real, I went from frustration to anger to discouragement. (Yes, I am like you in that I have problems and struggle when life is hard, too.)
One day, I was telling Jesus everything I thought and felt about the entire matter, wondering why He was not answering my prayers to get the company’s act together! It was not long into that conversation, that He began to speak to me. What I mean is that there were thoughts coming into my mind that were accompanied by peace. I knew this was Jesus. He reminded me of a few Scriptures but the most powerful one was part of Matthew 5:44. “Pray for those who despitefully use you.” Jesus knew that was exactly how I felt with this company…used. Yet, He was also giving me His remedy. He wanted me to pray for them to be blessed by Him which was the last thing I wanted to do. But I obeyed His instructions and began to pray for their salvation, for their marriages to improve, and for their health.
Amazingly, within seconds, my frustration, anger, and discouragement lifted and were replaced with the peaceful presence of Christ in me. Later, I forgave everyone involved which sealed the deal. Since then, I have continued with those same prayers for the people working on the house. There have still been challenges with them, but Ellen and I are at peace and I suspect, Jesus is reaching out with His love and salvation to each one of them. One of them even began sharing about their life, not just business. (Please note. We are not to pray for blessings on people’s sinful actions but prayer for God’s spiritual blessings on them.)
Do you have someone in your life who uses you or has used you? Talk to Jesus about this and ask Him to speak to you. Who knows, maybe He will tell you to pray for them too!
P.S. If you were not available to join us for the 25th Anniversary Celebration this past Saturday and you would like to view the recording, I’ve included the link. CLICK HERE. It was a power packed 35 minutes celebrating JESUS and all He’s done for thousands of people through the Freedom Fighters at GLI. We are excited about His wonderful plan for 2021!
In Christ Alone,
Mark Maulding
President and Founder
