Trusting God in Times of Trouble- Carol Hopson

While I was speaking at a retreat recently, I was suddenly
verbally attacked for the scriptural truth I was teaching
from Ephesians 5:22-23, where we are told, "Wives, be
subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." In the middle
of the meeting, a woman stood up and tried to shame me
for my teaching. She remained angry with me until the
very end of the retreat, though I tried to speak with her several
times. What should I do in this situation? Tell her how
rude she was? Demand an apology? Put her in her place?
Ignore her? Argue my point? If I relied on my emotions at
this point, I would be in big trouble, so I knew that wasn't
the answer. And so, because God is my Counselor through
His Word, I remembered that I was to speak the truth in
love and give grace to the hearer (Ephesians 4:16, 29;
Colossians 4:6). That meant that I was to respond in love
and give unmerited favor to the one who had disrupted the
meeting and attacked me. So, only by the grace of God, I
smiled at her and said, "I know that this can be confusing
for some, and it's difficult to understand the first time you
hear it, but I'm sharing what God says works the best for
our marriage relationship. He's the One who made us and
designed the institution of marriage. The Bible is His manual
for how we are to live and how we can find peace, purpose,
and fulfillment in the life He designed for us. I'd be
happy to talk further with you after the meeting if you'd
like, and I do understand your concern." With that, I smiled
again and moved on. You could hear a huge sigh of relief in
the audience as I moved to the next part of the message.
How thankful I was for Colossians 4:6, which also counseled
me, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned,
as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should
respond to each person."

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