The following is a blog I wrote two years ago when I was in California.

With no doubt, the Lord had led me to go there.  The initial idea was to be an intern at a church, but quickly I realized that God had other plans for me.  This was a test.  I had been controlled most of my life by a few people.  God had delivered me from that. I don’t let people control or manipulate me. But, this was quite the test.  I was submerged in a “society” of extremely controlling people … to the point that, at times, I was a bit fearful, mainly because I didn’t understand the “why” of what was taking place.  At times, it was like I was living out a nightmare.

Long story short, the Lord had me leave the internship, but stay in Cali. I don’t mind telling you that, at times, I was truly doubting whether or not I had really heard the Lord.  Looking back, I see that he was stretching me. Stretching my faith and trust in Him.  I ended up working with a ministry that taught Afghan refugee women how to speak and read English, which was very rewarding.

This blog is just a small portion of what I endured while in California.  ~ angie  

   

A Fool and his Folly... Proverbs 26:4-5

By :: angie c bilyeu     10.27.2016

The past three months of my life have been a bit of a whirl wind, to say the least. In a matter of just a few days, the Lord directed me to leave family, friends, and basically everything behind in Arkansas and temporarily relocate to California. God’s grace has been absolutely amazing…hands down…because this has been an extremely trying transition!

I’ll have to be honest with you, I wasn’t sure as to the “why” I was coming out here until about 4-5 weeks into my residency here in California. Now that I’ve been here for two days shy of two months, I have a much better idea of the “why.” I wouldn’t say that I fully know all the reasons because God always tends to reveal some in “the during” and some in “the after.” It always amazes me how He always works things out for my good. I trust Him. I trust Him, fully.

Yesterday, I was thinking about the scripture in Proverbs. 4 “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 26:4 As I was thinking about some of the crazy things that have happened since I left Arkansas, this scripture came to mind. I looked it up, read it and pondered it throughout the day. This morning, much to my surprise, it was in my daily Bible reading. I was overjoyed, praising God for the way He does things and laughing because of the joy it brought me!

Early on in my arrival, a young woman began challenging my boundaries. I’m sure she didn’t realize that she was crossing boundaries that she shouldn’t. It’s ok. I could see that she doesn’t have a good sense of boundaries for herself. For the most part, I know and understand how to handle these situations…only because of God’s leading and guiding and not because of anything within me. I rely on God’s help to know what to do and when to do it. I once was the young woman who had no sense of good boundaries. I have allowed God to teach me. Therefore, I now am ultra respectful of the boundaries of others and also keep safe boundaries for myself.  Anyway, this person crossed a boundary with me. I didn’t say anything to her. I let it go, forgave her and prayed about it. Soon thereafter, she did it again, but in a different way. This time, I asked her a question where she had to answer either “yes” or “no” to her foolishness. Well, she didn’t like this at all. She was immediately offended and then went around spouting off about what had taken place between the two of us. Never mind the fact that she was out of line in the first place.

This is exactly what the proverb is talking about. It seems that it contradicts itself, but really it doesn’t. You see, when dealing with foolishness of others, you have to know when to speak and when not to speak, and ultimately, either way, they won’t “get it.” When you don’t speak, said person believes they are wise in their own eyes. When you do speak, they usually get offended and show their immaturity. When dealing with a person like this, you cannot win. It truly is best to simply walk away and just keep the peace when coming in contact with them.

This person from that moment on did everything she could to get into “my world.” It’s not that I was unfriendly or mean. I was simply keeping safe, healthy boundaries for myself. This wasn’t my “first rodeo,” so the saying goes. The thing is, even though this person stirred up all of strife and even tried to “teach me” where she believes I’m in error, she has no idea that she is the one in error. She has chosen to be “wise in her own eyes.” I don’t say that arrogantly or as though I am wise in my own eyes at all. I say it extremely humbly. I have been patient to allow the Lord to show me exactly what He wanted me to learn from the situation without spouting off and gossiping to others about the situation.

Basically, the Proverb says that you cannot win with a fool. You cannot answer a fool who is “wise in their own eyes.” You must be cautious and use wisdom if you choose to answer what the Bible refers to as a fool.  The truth of the matter is, this person is loved by God as much as you and I are. He wants a better way for this person as much as He wants a better way for you and for me.

If and when we find ourselves in a situation like this, we must remember that even though someone is crossing boundaries and being disrespectful, we must take the high road, which I did, in this case. Thank You, Jesus…who enabled me to do so!! More often than not, we must remain silent, which I also did. God will fight these battles for us when we allow Him to do so. (Exodus 14:14) Silence doesn’t mean we don’t understand a situation. Silence doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t have anything to say, either. For me in this particular situation as a leader, I wasn’t in a position as a leader who had authority to confront and correct, but rather a follower. I knew my boundaries and chose to keep them. It wasn’t my place to correct this person, so I forgave and let it go, but, I kept safe boundaries for myself with this person from that point on. Wisdom was available, accessed and used in this situation. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who will give it without reproach. James 1:5 I rely on this scripture A LOT!! God has never failed me. If I fail to use wisdom in a situation, it’s not because of God, but rather because I didn’t ask for, access, or use it. Wisdom is always there for us because God is always there for us with an infinite supply of wisdom. We must choose it. We must also pray for the person who is the offender. The Bible says to love your neighbor and pray for your enemies. Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 5:43-48. In this case, this person has no idea of their folly. That’s ok. It’s currently where she is in her walk. If she continues with the Lord and allows Him to do so, He will teach her a better way in time … like He has done and continues to do with me because that's what I choose with all my heart.

Bottom line … be cautious when dealing with what the Bible refers to as fools. Don’t fall into their trap. Use wisdom that God provides. Know who you are in Christ. When you know who you are in Him, you don’t have to try to win people over to your side because you know that the only opinion that matters is God’s opinion of you. ~ Selah

"Thus saith the Lord?"

In the past few months, and especially the past few days, I’ve had several situations where people said, “Thus saith the Lord,” to me with a word “directly from God.”  Ha!  Well, that’s a little too “King James” version for me.  They really didn’t say “Thus saith the Lord,” but they have told me that the Lord was speaking to them about me.  Hmmm … I find this very curious because, as I quietly listened to these things, not much of anything applied to my life.

A few months ago, I met with a married couple where the man did most of the talking.  At first, our conversation was light, fun, and interesting.  I didn’t know these folks and I thought he was being kind.  They were folks from the church I attend and because I was on the worship team at the time, I was highly visible to the congregation. On a weekly basis at church and/or in public, I would get a lot of compliments from people I don’t know.  I have learned to graciously accept the kind words, but not allow myself to be moved by those words. (giving praise to God for not only the gift, but allowing me to use that gift to worship Him.) But, this situation was a bit different.  I was looking to this person as a leader and I suppose I allowed his words to carry more weight than I should have.  This was a learning experience for me.  Just a short  week later, what I realized is that he used that flattery to “draw me in,” so to speak.  He then began to speak “on behalf of the Lord,”  His words started off encouraging, but then, they went to the negative side.  Now, the way I’m explaining this here sounds very “black and white,’ easy to see from hind sight.  But, in the midst of this, it was very subtle. Right in the middle of our second meeting, the three of us, I got up and walked out.  I went and spoke to a friend of mine whom I’ve know for more than twenty years to vent and to have her pray for me. It was then that I realized that this was an attempt of the enemy to bring me down.  You see, the Lord is encouraging, even when we make mistakes.  The enemy condemns and lies.  I could see, in the spirit, a dense fog, that, after talking and praying this through with my friend, completely dissipated. His statements were not from God.  He may have said, “thus saith the Lord,” but, this was not from the Lord.  Afterwards, I prayed and asked God to show me what had happened.  The Lord told me that it was this man’s flattery of me.  He spoke kind words to me and I let them affect me.  It was definitely a learning experience.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been leading a small group of women in a book study. God is teaching us His ways, opening our eyes to how He loves, cares, and feels about us and wants us to not only know this, but mimic Him and have the same cares and concerns about the lost.  In the midst of this, one of the women spouted out to me: “The Lord is speaking to me that you’re a stumbling block.” with regard to me musically speaking.  I was like … “What?”  She repeated it and I, very kindly, said to her, “Well, that’s not what the Lord is speaking to me.”(I literally had to repeat this to her two or three times.)  Again, she insisted that she had a word from the Lord.  Now, her words were confusing and didn’t make any sense and she even got to a point where she, herself, said she was confused about what “the Lord” was supposedly saying through her.  Well, this I know: God is not a God of confusion.  This was the enemy.  It clearly was not a word from God.  This was not my first incident with this person in this type of situation.  She has, over the past few years, for some reason, made it her “mission” to “direct my steps.” (which, by the way, I absolutely do not buy into.)  A few days later while I was in the midst of worship (worshipping the Lord in music singing and playing the guitar), I received a message from her, telling me that she was quitting the book study and again, she had another word for me that had no bearing on my life or the content of what I was teaching.  I shared this with a couple of close friends.  They too, did not see any bearing.  This person is deceived and they don’t even know it.

Now, I believe these types of situations happen to people a lot within the church.  I also believe in the ministry of prophecy.  None of these situations fall into the category of true prophetic words from the Lord.  None of them.

This is why is so very important for us to know who we are in Christ!!

If I had bought into all that has been said to me now or previously, my life would be a mess.  The first three months that I was in California a few years ago was a very intense test in this area, in which I believe I passed.  We have to know who God is and know His voice to keep ourselves from the perils of the enemy.

With the exception of the intense three months in California, these situations started off very “good and positive” and then went “bad,” so to speak.  Not everything good that is said is from the Lord. And, likewise, not everything bad that is said is “truth.”  I cant stress enough about how important it is to keep our eyes focussed on the Lord.  He is our Rock; our solid foundation that keeps us stable.

Since I began writing this blog a few weeks ago, I’ve had two other similar situations happen where people I was investing time into have turned on me in very vicious ways verbally.  I considered these people not just friends, but close and good friends.  When they began speaking untruths to me and trying to bring me down, I just walked away.  I love these folks and pray for them, but I know that I cannot have this type of dysfunction in my life.

Not everyone who says; “Thus saith the Lord, is speaking for the Lord.”

Be very cautious as to who you allow to speak into your life.  The enemy comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.  John 10:10  These are the words of Jesus.  I don’t believe that the people in these examples purposely intended any harm.  I believe that they truly believed what they were saying to me.  But, here’s the important thing; I know who I am in Christ. I knew that what was being said to me was not the truth.  With the man who was the leader, I did struggle to stand up for myself because of my respect for his leadership.  But, as with the others, I knew that I knew that I knew that I must walk away … which we must do when something like this happens.  Not everyone will be for you. Not everyone can go where God is taking you.  We must cling to Him and know who we are in Him to be able to stand firm and not be swayed like a reed shaken by the wind.

“Thus saith the Lord.”  Weigh the words that follow that statement very carefully so that:

1. You aren’t deceived in any way.

2. You don’t miss anything that the Lord may actually be speaking to you.

3. Pray for wisdom.  James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let Him ask of the Lord and He will give it to you without reproach.” He will not fail us.  Trust in Him.