“Unto Thee, oh Lord, do I lift up my soul. Oh my God, I trust in Thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed” (Psalm 25:1-3).

Kathy had really been making it a matter of prayer. Two of the ladies at work with whom she had been eating lunch were growing bolder in their vulgarities. The inappropriateness of their jokes grew stronger as time wore on. On previous occasions Kathy shared with them that she did not find that kind of sense of humor to be appropriate in the workplace nor anywhere else as far as that goes. She was becoming the brunt of their jokes, and things were even beginning to grow hostile. In her prayers she pled with the Lord to give her a real open door. She asked the Lord to really help her to be a great witness and not to have to take the situation to management. Then the day came. One of the other coworkers experienced a distressing phone call from home. Her mother had been taken to the emergency room. Over the next several days Kathy had the opportunity to really minister to this coworker and share with her in this emergency. It was amazing. What a change took place because Kathy was not ashamed of the Lord, nor was she embarrassed to be one of His servants! The entire atmosphere in the lunch room changed because of Kathy’s willingness to wait on the Lord, to trust in Him, and not be ashamed. Certainly going to management may be the only way to resolve some of our problems. On the other hand there are dozens of opportunities for us to be gracious and yet bold for the Lord.

For today: Let’s ask the Lord to help us to be gracious and yet to take a good stand for Him. We must never be ashamed of the gospel.