Stay

I once worked for a boss so despicable, that you would not even believe the stories I could tell concerning him!  He is the stuff legends are made of in the industry!  The only protection he had was that his mother had married one of the senior vice presidents of the company and he suddenly not only shot up to management but also now had the ability to inflict himself on some 86 people on my project.  And he brought his friends with him, whom suddenly were all made the leads over the rest of us and not of one of them could manage to comb their hair in the morning, they were pathetic.

I hated my job!  I hated him - not the extent of wanting to kill him or anything but to the extent that one of us was going to have to go.  In the end it was 86 whom left and he was able to blame us for the disasters he was causing.  And this project was a big deal!  We are talking country fortunes were tied to our success - but he made it so that no one could succeed!

And I imagine that Timothy found himself in a similar situation in Ephesus.  The book of First Timothy was written to encourage Timothy in his assignment at the church of Ephesus!

1 Timothy 1:3 - 11

Stay In Place!
Remain in Ephesus
Stay where you are
Keep giving it your all
Do not run

Stay On Message!
Do not twiddle your thumbs
Keep the church on target
Beware of universalism

Stay In Love!
Our goal is Love
Demons hate God's Love

Stay With Jesus!
Verses 8 - 11 gives us a list of sins
The Law was for law breakers, not for the doers of the Law

It all comes down to living your faith...

So, at wits end with a manager whom padded billing accounts and time sheets to overcharge the customer, a manager whom put his friends names on our work to make them look better, I finally walked.  I had enough to live comfortably the rest of my life.  I always wanted to get into mining and the American Southwest had several good opportunities, so I went for it.

And it was a disaster!

I returned home and was lamenting my frustrations with a friend and he said something interesting, "God can not use you somewhere else, until you are willing to stay where you are."  It was so uncharacteristic of Dutchman, it caught my attention and I have remembered that one.

As life has shown me, God continually returns me to the Seattle area.  Everytime I leave, I end up back here.  I might be gone for months thinking I will never return, or it might be for a decade, but He continually drags me back - sometimes kicking and screaming!  And I would have not have ever come back, given the choice ...

I know once it was because I had not learned an important lesson, because I ran.
I know once it was because I had something He needed me to do, so I stayed.
I know now He wants a new me, so I am learning.
And I know I need to share this story, because no one would ever believe it ...