1 Peter 4:12 is a wake up call to all Christians. Sometimes we forget fiery trials will come our way unexpectedly. This happened to me recently. I was trying to be accommodating in a situation where I paid for a project before it was completed. Because I wanted to support the company and believe the best, I trusted they would do the right thing.
Well, less than 24 hours later, Satan visited me in the spirit of an employee in the organization. It totally caught me off guard when you pick up your phone and the person on the other end is yelling and screaming at you, the customer.
I immediately recognized this was not from God. I said it out loud on the phone several times. Not only was the person yelling and screaming, they mocked my faith. You know that is from Satan when that happened. Then the person became accusatory. Another tactic of Satan.
My training as a police officer, crisis counselor, school administrator kicked in. I remained calm and asked to speak to the supervisor. That is when this person hung up the phone. I called the office and I got continued unprofessional behavior minus the yelling and screaming.
According to the Bible, our faith will be tested. If Jesus was sent into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested, you know we will be tested (Mathew 4:1, Luke 4:1, Mark 1:12). The Bible also says we will share in Jesus’ sufferings and His glory (Romans 8:17).
When we get tested and squeezed in life, for Christians, the Fruit of the Spirit should pop out of us (Galatians 5:22-23). In this situation peace, gentleness, and self control popped out of me! I could tell this person wanted me to engage them in an argument. I refused to participate. Instead, I remained calm and exercised self-control and peacefulness. I did all of this with the Holy Spirit’s help.
My flesh wanted to lash out. However, when the Spirit of the Living God makes His presence known, we can either ignore it or embrace it. I choose to embrace it because I know it is the BEST for me. Moreover, 1 Samuel 17:47 says the battle is not mine in situations like this… It belongs to God! So I give it to Him and let Him handle the situation. He will take care of it… Amen! Love & Blessings!