Precious Memories - Page 21
This woman that was with Brother and Sister Taylor asked George a question. She said they had talked a lot about him and she felt that God could speak to her through him. She wanted to know what he thought about her and her husband’s marriage problems since they were separated. George shocked her, as well as us, by answering her, “It is not this marriage that is troubling you. It is your previous marriage!” She had never mentioned to the Taylors or us that she had been married before. The Lord will reveal the secrets of your heart.
I learned a lesson that has stayed with me through the years that I would like to share with you. This woman felt that she was called to preach, and every time I would get around her something would happen to me. I would be feeling fine when I came into her presence, but immediately, it felt as if someone was pouring lead on the inside of me and I would feel terrible and would start resenting her. I would go home and pray and pray and ask the Lord to remove this horrible feeling because I didn’t want any part of it. I would feel it lift and felt sure I had the victory over it, but the next time we would go back around her I would feel the same way all over again.
I talked to Sister Linda about this and she confided in me that she had been fighting a similar battle since the woman had been with them and that it was about to split their home up.
I would go back to God in prayer again, sincerely seeking to find out why this feeling would come over me when I would go around her.
One day, I decided to ask George if he had the answer. I explained exactly how I felt, and he teasingly said, “You aren’t jealous, are you?” I admit that this kind of upset me, but later he told me he knew that God was trying to use me and I wasn’t aware of it, so he just let me go on battling this, until one day, I went face to face with the woman and told her all about it. I told her I didn’t want to feel this way toward her, but I just couldn’t seem to help it.
She looked at me with a funny expression, but said she would pray about it. Later, she came back and thanked me for facing her in this. She confessed that so many women had felt the same way about her, and she couldn’t seem to find fellowship with them, not even with her own relatives. In praying, she said the Lord showed her very plainly that she had taken on a real forward, protruding spirit. Feeling that she was called to preach, she formed a habit of sitting around talking to the men while the women would be in the kitchen preparing meals, etc., and when the meal was ready, she would take her seat at the table with the men and expect to be served. When the meal was finished, she would return to the living room to fellowship while the wives would clean the kitchen. Of course, this caused resentment after a few times. I know we can play the part of Martha and be too concerned about the natural things of life instead of being like Mary and sitting at the feet of Jesus, but I believe there is a time and place for all things, and it is never a woman’s place to feel more comfortable around men than she does around women unless the wrong spirit has control of her. This woman had already experienced two broken marriages because of this, so it sure couldn’t have been right.
I learned to give thanks to the Lord for all things and to remember He is holy and greatly to be praised.