Apr 4

Luke 6: ²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (NIV)

 

I can clearly recall two events in my life where I've put this to practice and have seen God honor it by blessing me in the end.  The first occurred while I was still in college (Go Dawgs!  Don't lose to anyone today...).  I had a truck stolen my junior year and I thought the world was simply going to end.  I prayed for the people that stole it, and after two weeks or so, I actually started to mean those prayers.  In the end, God found me a replacement and the insurance money paid for my Sr. year as well as the truck payments until I got my first job. 

The second was a work situation in the mid-late '90's.  One particular coworker not only berated me for my lowly education (after all I only had a Bachelor of Science in engineering), he piled on about how weak-minded I was to be a Christian and believe in God in spite of no factual evidence of Him.  He cited my belief as further evidence of my lack of rigorous and in-depth technical training in the science of conclusions drawn strictly from scientific observation (Satan has clearly blinded him to the work of God going on all around him, but that is a topic for another day).  Until that time, I had always prided myself in being able to work with anyone.  This man is the only person I've ever had to go into formal mediation hearings to solve interpersonal conflicts.  I was so worn out by that experience, I left that job and moved to another part of Eglin AFB altogether just to escape the oppression. 

Approximately 12 years later, I was the chief engineer for a significant program that ran into technical issues.  When our Commander convened a review board, this man's name appeared on the list.  I was already afraid that I would be fired as a result of the technical issue and when I saw his name on the review panel I was sure that it would be a humiliating experience along the way. 

As God would have it, however, I was not only retained in the position, I set up a recovery plan that leveraged this man's experience and organization to run a risk reduction effort.  We're now collaborating on a separate project and are bringing our two organizations along in this collaborative effort. 

I just spent the last two days out of town with this man.  Not only is there a sense of mutual respect, but we enjoyed some time over dinner sharing personal experiences.  One of the members of his team had just returned from Haiti (where she worked with Brett Bundy on a medical team - I didn't know her PhD in metallurgy qualified her to be that kind of doctor!) and we spent quite a bit of time swapping stories of our experiences in Haiti and our take aways.  He actually listened and interacted with great interest and even caught himself in mid-word and apologized profusely when he started to take the Lord's name in vain. 

I obviously had no role in changing this relationship other than to leave it and pray that God would give me the grace to forgive him.  God honored that prayer, albeit some 12 years later. 

So what's the point?  God honors our faithfulness!  Even when it seems that others would be better off without us, God doesn't give us that option.  He said to love them, even if they are our enemies.  At that point in my life, I couldn't bring myself to do anything other than pray for that man and not publicly disrespect him (I did plenty behind his back for which I've repented). 

I'm obviously not perfect.  There should be many other such stories, but sometimes I simply like holding a grudge.  One thing is for sure.  God didn't stop working just because my situation changed and I didn't think I needed Him to work in that situation anymore.  Thanks be to Him that He showed me He is even bigger than those who refuse to believe.  One other thing is also obvious.  God can use even me in spite of my lack of qualifications or past sins.  Wow.  He's awesome!