Sometimes I just want to tell God to mind His own business. You know what I mean. Just the other day, I had the opportunity to double up my reimbursement for some work I had done online. It was work that was required for the job. It was work that I actually did at the worksite. It was work that I had completed at the worksite. However, there was a way that I could also bill it for having done it at home and get more money for this small deception. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me. It is really inconvenient when He does that. He reminded me that this was cheating. I told Him that, ‘of course it is, but who is to know, except You and I!’
A little later I was scrolling through some news on an internet website and some pictures of scantily clad women appeared on my screen. My scrolling came to a slow roll, more like a creepy crawl. The Holy Spirit spoke to me. Yes! He did it again. .’ Michael, you realize these pictures are a lure to lust don’t you? These images are on a flat screen of two dimensions, airbrushed and photo shopped, smaller than life and don’t breathe.’ I answered back, ‘don’t you have somewhere to be, or someone else to bother?’
As the day went on, I heard some employees talking bad about a colleague. I was unfamiliar with the one about whom they spoke, but that did not stop me from drawing close to hear the gossip. I have learned that gossip doesn’t have to be true to make it good and worth sharing! Can you believe the Holy Spirit showed up once again? This is getting rather repetitive. ‘What now, HS? What did I do wrong now?’ He answered as only the Paraclete can (look that word up). ‘Michael, my child, I called you to be an example of integrity, not a purveyor of rumor. Remember that people who talk to you about others will talk to others about you.’
This was making for a really long day. If the Comforter shows up once more, I am going to lose it, I said to myself. Just as the words were forming in my mind a situation arose that I had to deal with. A patient who needed to share that she had falsely claimed that she was injured on duty at work, when she was actually had fallen down the steps as she left her boyfriends house and she did not want her husband to know about it. She wanted me to help her file for workmen’s compensation and keep the medical record silent on the actual details of the site of injury so that her husband wouldn’t find out. This is what they call a ‘hat-trick’ in hockey. Three goals in one game!
I was familiar with this as I had already been tempted to cheat, engage in lust and engaging in lurid secrets and rumors. That is when the Holy Spirit spoke again. This time, He was a bit more insistent.
‘My child, I actually kept you from diving deeper into those temptations because I knew you would encounter this woman before the end of your shift. If you had become enmeshed in those things, you would not be able to speak with integrity to the woman in front of you. I need you, my son, to speak truth in a non-judgmental way to this woman. I need you to address her injuries and let her know that you won’t lie to her and you can’t lie for her. Keep it simple son.’ This actually made the clinical encounter a lot easier as I could be objective, non-judgmental and actually care for her injuries. She accepted my refusal to lie for her without protesting.
Whenever you are tempted to tell God to MYOB that is, Mind Your Own Business, remember, His business is in making you like His Son. He uses the Holy Spirit to accomplish this work. Listen for Him and to Him when He talks. He is never silent. He wants to use you. He must first infuse you with His holiness.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.