Interactions with God #52

Somewhere in 1990, I left the Bank and took a job with AT&T.  I worked in one of their phone center stores at the Pheasant Lane Mall.  This was technically my first sales job.  We sold phones, fax machines, printers and small business phone systems.  We also took lease phone returns. Yes, at that time, there were still old rotary phones that folks had been leasing from AT&T for years.

We did make a small commission on sales, but of course not on the lease phone returns.  The way the floor ran was very simple.  We took turns with each potential customer that passed through the opening of the store.  If a guy came in and it was my turn, I would ask him how I could help.  If he was browsing, I would keep my distance, but watch just in case he showed any interest in any of our products.  When another person came in, the next sales rep would do the same with them.  We just took turns.

In any sales job, there are heroes and there are losers.  Heroes of course are those that sell lots of stuff.  Losers, well, though they may sell stuff, just don’t seem to sell as much as the “hero”.  I was not a hero. 

This status was not my doing.  Like with anything, success comes from God.  Yes, that is biblical.  There are passages that say that, several of them actually.  Then of course there are many events and longer stories that prove His control in a very concrete manner.  Yet so many Christians truly believe that success in the world equates to favor with God because of action on our part.  Actually, the opposite is true. 

In the book of Hebrews, it is written “Endure hardship as discipline, for God is treating you as sons”.  Hardship, or trouble, is discipline.  If hardship comes, it may very well be because I have sin and God wants to deal with.  However, in many cases, hardship comes just to make us better.  Discipline, therefore, is not always punishment.  Think about how your parents made you brush your teeth, take a shower or work in the yard.  That is discipline.  How about boot camp?  That is some serious discipline!  Most of my hardship is just that, discipline for the purpose of growth.  That is also what happened at AT&T…a lot.

Sonya was a fellow co-worker.  Sonya was a nominal Christian.  She went to church, but often swore like a truck driver.  She could also tell a lie like a politician.  To me, and frankly, to scripture, her actions didn’t say much for her faith in God. Although, none of that really mattered to me, for my walk with God has never been dependent on how those around me live.  Well, not since my interaction in 1984.  Yet God used Sonya greatly in my “discipline”. 

Sonya, didn’t know much about our products.  I knew a great deal.  I was a Christian.  She was a phony.  Sonya didn’t even practice good sales techniques.  Yet, she was our top sales person.  It was all in the timing.  As I said, we took turns.  If someone came in the door on my turn and they wanted to return an old lease phone, I wasn’t going to sell anything for at least 20 minutes.  If the next person came in and it was Sonya’s turn, they would buy a $4000 fax machine.  Yes, this happened…consistently.  On one particular Saturday morning this happened two or three times within a 60 minute period.  It just so happened that all the regional managers were in a meeting, at our store, with the district manager.  Of course, on each major sale, they all came out and offered copious amounts of praise on Sonya.  And yes, they would also look over at me right after each event and give me that “what’s wrong with you” look.  I was humiliated!

It made me mad.  It was unfair.  From a worldly perspective, it was all luck of the draw.  Her sales prowess had nothing at all to do with skill or ability.  There was no haggling in each of her sales, no overcoming objections.  It was simply, “Can I help you?”, “Yes, I will take that Fax machine.”  THAT WAS IT!  Yet, here I was, looking like I was incompetent.  I could have burst with the frustration.

Yet, I knew what this was.  It was not an attack by the enemy.  It was not luck.  It was not happenstance.  It was God the Father.  Argue with me all you want.  It was.  If you think otherwise, you really need to go back to His word and take a good look at Him. 

This is where faith comes it.  I had to learn to trust Him in the process.  I didn’t like it.  I was not supposed to.  He has told me that on many occasions since.  In fact, He said it again this morning.  I have had many humiliating job situations, ministry situations and home situations.  In each of them, I tell Him the same thing, “I don’t like this!”  His reply is almost always, “You are not supposed to”. 

The favor of God.  This is something we all seek.  Hardship doesn’t show God’s disapproval, but rather His approval.  That just seems nuts to most Christians.  So much so, they quickly become like Job’s friends.  “You must be doing something wrong!”  Job’s Friends were wrong then and they are wrong now.  I was not struggling with sin.  This was because I made Jesus, Lord.  To make Him Lord, is to give God a blank check to do whatever He wants to make you better.  I did that during my life changing interaction in 1984.

He is still pounding me with hardship.  It will continue until He is finished His work.  No, I don’t like it.  But I do like that fact that it proves again and again, even though others won’t accept it, that I am most definitely, His son.