Who's Really In Charge?

Where I work, an opportunity came up for people to attend a conference overseas.  The boss had proposed sending 15 people to the conference with most of the expenses paid.  In a meeting with the approval committee, it was agreed that only 1 or at the most 2 people would attend, in view of the current financial situation, and spending priorities.  Also, it was agreed that it was simply not an appropriate use of funds, especially if our group was considering fundraising activity in the future.  This decision was agreed by vote and documented.  All potential participants were to be asked if they wanted to attend, and a decision would be made about who would attend.

A few weeks later I was in a meeting with the boss.  She said that sending just 1 or 2 people would be awkward, and at a minimum couldn’t 5 or 6 go?  I found myself agreeing even though I had felt very strongly that 1 or 2 people attending was adequate.  As I walked out of the meeting, I felt angry.  I am normally a strong person and felt I had been manipulated. 

That was my answer- the angel thought that I needed! This was not about power plays, manipulation or anything in operation other than God’s omnipotence and order.  That idea depersonalised the situation. I no longer felt I had to persuade the boss back to an agreed view.  Instead, human views could not alter God’s plan for each of His children, and the organisation.  I claimed that 1 Mind was in operation and held to the last line of the spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer.  “ For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.”

I realised that I had to address another area in my prayers- fear.  I was afraid of what would happen, and what my colleagues would say when they learned that I had agreed to something different than what had been voted on.  I wasn’t even sure I had the authority to give consent to changing the participant numbers.

As I considered further the last line of the Lord’s Prayer, two thoughts came to me - honesty and a false sense of personal responsibility.  I decided that going forward, I would be honest in any discussions about the number of participants in this conversation. I would not give power to any belief of manipulation, nor would I “blame” anyone- including myself.  Instead I would simply relay the facts as and when required.  I could trust that God was in charge and all powerful.  Also, I could not assume a sense of responsibility for the situation.  The right human footsteps had been taken, and I felt grounded through my prayers.  I did not need to be responsible for altering or adjusting the situation.  God’s Law of Adjustment was in operation, and I needed to be open to His thoughts on what I could do to fulfil His law.

I felt at peace.  Nothing humanly had changed, but I knew that God was in charge and I consciously had turned the situation over to Him.

About 2 weeks later I was in a meeting with my boss.  It came to me to raise the topic of the number of participants, and to be honest about the situation.  I mentioned that I was in an awkward position having agreed to a different number of participants during our last meeting than that which had been voted on.  We talked further about it, and agreed that for the short term no specific number of participants would be mentioned.

I continued to pray.  Two weeks later, the committee was notified that out of the many people who had been approached, there were just 2 people interested in participating in the conference!  I hadn’t needed to jump into a power play, or justify myself .  Instead I had needed to firmly claim that God was the only one in charge.

What more was there to say, than “Thank you God!”