Responding To Conflict – Part 5 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning,

I guess you’re happy to be coming towards the end of the work week, but I hope that also as you look back on this week, you can see God’s involvement in your life, because, you know, as you put God first in your life, God gets involved in your life. God looks for people who are trusting Him and listening to Him, spending time with Him, and then responding to Him and following His lead in their lives, and those are the people that God then turns around and says, alright, I’m going to get involved in this person’s life.

Well, we’re talking all this week about responding to conflict in your life. This is always a big challenge for us, isn’t it? One of the great tests of the depth of your Christian walk with God.

What do you do when there’s conflict in your life? It reveals what’s inside of you, doesn’t it? Today I want to take you to one of my very favorite verses on this passage in Luke chapter 12, as Jesus is teaching his disciples about some of the very difficult, challenging days that are ahead for them.

He says in verse 11 and 12 of Luke chapter 12 in the Bible – And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not become anxious about how or what you should speak in your defense or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.

Well, that’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? And you know, it’s impossible to know what to say ahead of time, isn’t it, when you’re dealing with an issue of conflict, a situation where there’s conflict, you can get totally prepared in your mind for what you want to say. But when you get in the midst of the conversation, that usually all goes out the window because it usually doesn’t go the way you planned at all.

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And that’s why it’s very good to think through the issues and to prepare your mind by becoming aware of what are the real issues and stopping and praying and saying, God, you search all things, you know what’s in the heart of people, what’s the real issue here in this conflict? I don’t want to just jump to my own defense without stopping and listening to you. What is there in my life that needs to be dealt with and what is there in the other person’s life that you are wanting to deal with? And how do you want to use me in that? And can you give me your peace that you’re in control, because my heart is just turning over and over about this thing?

Well, when you come to God trusting Him like that, then what you need to also ask for is wisdom that the Holy Spirit of God will give you wisdom in the midst of your conversation, in the midst of the conflict.

Jesus assured the disciples they would be given wise words to say when they faced those hostile authorities, and you know, when you’re in conflict, the temptation is always to speak hastily, to jump out in defense of yourself, and you need to ask the Holy Spirit to just put a seal on your lips to slow you down until God prompts you with what He wants you to say.

It won’t always be comfortable to do that because that really goes against our nature, doesn’t it?

And often it’s confusing to the person we’re having conflict with because they are expecting us to just jump up with our, our hairs bristling on our neck and jump to our own defense, but rather waiting for what God wants you to say will produce Christlike character in you and maybe that’s part of why God has allowed that conflict in your life.

I’m John North.