Mandy Baker Johnson

Living without Shadows

My Problem, His Problem

A month after my eighteenth birthday, I qualified as a medical secretary and started working for an ENT surgeon. Mr G commanded quite a presence and I was somewhat in awe of him (I remember my hand shaking the first time I tried to take down shorthand!). Although I’d had two years’ training at college, I felt that I knew nothing. It didn’t help that his previous secretary (who’d left to have a baby) had been super-efficient with beautiful handwriting, and was respected and liked by everyone. But one thing Mr G said in my first week helped to calm my nerves and give me confidence that doing this busy and responsible job was possible.

‘If you make a mistake, don’t try and cover it up. I want you to tell me so that I can sort it out.’

In that one sentence he declared our partnership. My mistake was his mistake. He aligned himself with me – and he had the knowledge, power and experience to sort out any cock-up I might make.

What set me off thinking about my eleven happy years with Mr G, was something my pastor, Nick, said yesterday in his sermon:

God has made a covenant with us. He has committed Himself to us so that whatever affects us, affects Him. A bit like with me and Mr G, my problems become God’s problems.

Of course, our biggest problem is sin and when God chose to commit Himself to us, He had to make sure that this problem got sorted. Jesus – the Son of God – chose to become one of us so that He could pay the penalty (death) for our sin, and offer us forgiveness, freedom and peace with God in its place. Wow.

There is one condition: don’t cover it up. To get God’s help, I have to confess my sin and tell Him about my problems. It’s like it was with Mr G. Trying to cover up a mistake was pointless because not only was it likely I’d get found out but the problem wasn’t resolved. And I was left worrying about it. Hard though it could be (especially when he peered over his half-moon glasses at me), it was always better to come clean and tell him. The problem could get sorted, the situation was diffused, and I had peace of mind.

Thank You God for loving me and committing Yourself to me. Thank You for taking on my problems as Your problems, and for working them out for me. There is no God like You!

 

2 Comments

  1. Thankyou so much for a great post and a brilliant encouraging word. You are so right. It’s easy to forget to take our problems to Him and rather, stupidly, try and handle them ourselves. We have an amazing God!

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