Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Summer (the season) (07/09/09)
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TITLE: A Faithful Employee | Previous Challenge Entry
By Deborah Ann Belka
07/16/09 -
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She stopped at the counter, and wiped the tears from her face. She did not think she could handle another day of tormnet. As she poured her tea, she wrestled with the bottle of valium sitting next to her cup.
As dawn faded and the morning dew lifted, it was clear she was going to struggle yet another day. For as sure as the sun rose, so did her dread. She felt it rising in her chest, like bile it burned, pushing her panic button. It was a full blown attack; the fear caused her to shake, gasping for air, she felt as if her life supply was being cut off.
She staggered into the living room and got her cell phone and dialed her mother.
“Mom, it’s happening again today. I just don’t know how much more of this I can take.” She cried out.
“Oh, dear I am so sorry, is there anything I can do?”
“Yes, mom, please pray for me. If I lose another day at work they will fire me. I’ve already called in sick three days this week and all of last week.” Just saying the words triggered more panic. “Mom, I’ve got to go now.”
She went back in the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of valium. She took the bottle along with her Bible and opened the front door. The heat of the hot summer morning was rising quickly, and she found a shady spot on the stoop to sit. She sat for awhile and then she put her head into her hands and prayed.
“Heavenly Father, I come to you today, asking you, no begging you to help me. I love you, I trust you, and I believe you when you say you hear my prayers. I need your help; I cannot do this all by myself. I need to go to work, but the panic is so real and so terrifying. Lord, take away my fear, replace it with Your peace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”
She picked up her Bible, and it opened to Proverbs. She read the first verse she saw. Her eyes flew open in disbelief. God was actually telling her what to do. She wrote down the verse and immediately got up, went into the house threw her valiums in the drain and dressed for work.
On the way to work she called her mother.
“Mom, you won’t believe this, but I am going to work, in fact I am driving there right now. God answered my prayers, the panic is gone, and the fear and dread are no more. All I have is peace, Mom, His peace.”
As she pulled into the parking lot she told her mother word for word the verse and told her to read, Proverbs 25:13.
“Mom, I’ll call you when I get home for work.”
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“Mom, I can’t believe how good I felt today. No fear, no anxiety, no panic. God has healed me.”
“Karla, I am so happy for you. Praise God for His faithfulness. I read the verse, after you called. Were you reading it from King James?”
“Yes, I wrote it down and read it to you this morning. Why?”
“Well, dear I read the verse from King James, and it didn’t say what you wrote down.”
“What! I know that it was Proverbs 25:13 hang on a minute.” She went to get her Bible and the piece of paper she wrote the verse on.
“Ok, Mom, read the verse.”
“It says, “Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.”
“No, that’s not what I saw, what I read, not even close to what I wrote down.”
In astonishment she compared what she wrote down to the verse that was in the Bible. And then she knew that the Holy Spirit had truly spoken to her.
“What did you write down, again dear?” Her mother asked.
Karla held the piece of paper and read from it word for word.
“A Faithful employee is as refreshing, as a cool day, in the hot summertime.”
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