Christian Living

---

You've heard the saying "good guys finish last”, and maybe you’ve felt like that good guy. I know I have, like the time a boss sabotaged a project I’d burned the midnight oil on for eight months. HE carried on his merry way and got a promotion.

For me, the hardest thing about these situations isn't what the person did to me; it's what I'm supposed to do for them, and that’s pray.

PRAY? For THEM? How about I give up my "sugar-in-the-gas-tank" fantasies, or stop wishing them a flea infestation of Biblical proportions? But pray? Please Lord, anything but that!

Among His teachings in Luke 6, Jesus said in verse 28, "pray for those who mistreat you." Talk about tall orders!. Believe me, when one of my friends, a private business owner, was backstabbed by an employee she had mentored, the first words out of her mouth weren't "let us pray." To challenge her Christian behavior even further, the woman who stole her business plan actually became successful.

It does seem like mean people breeze through life, and it’s something the prophet Jeremiah wondered about. "You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?" (Jeremiah 12:1 NIV)

Though “reap what you sow” (Galations 6:7) doesn’t appear to apply to everyone, it really does—and the Bible warns that every dog gets his day. We're taught in Jonah 4:2 that the Lord is "slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." His patience, though, shouldn't be confused with tolerance. Nahum 1:3 also says God is slow to anger, but adds, "the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."

In Obadiah 4, we read, "Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord." And verse 15 says, "As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head."

Everyone has known someone who "had it coming." Though it might be tempting to make popcorn and enjoy the show, Proverbs 24:17-18 says, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him." (NIV)

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of that scripture. Do I not rejoice... to ensure that God keeps sticking it to them?

No, what I think that scripture reminds us of this: if we celebrate their reaping, we're no better than they were when they did their sowing.

Now we're back to praying for them.

Why should we? Well, for one thing, Obadiah verse 4 is scary, and if people continue in their cruel, self-seeking ways, they're going to need all the prayer they can get. Another reason is that the more we pray for them, the more we'll see things from God's perspective. I realized this while talking with a woman who was personally and financially by a man she had trusted. Years later, circumstances brought them together again, and she learned how much rain had fallen in this man's life.

"You know," she told me, "every bad thing I wished on that guy came to pass."

When I asked her how that made her feel, she said, "He brought it on himself, but I get no pleasure from how much he's suffered. It's sad, and I hope he’s a better man because of it."

If her human heart could see it that way, how much more does God's heart? Yes, He's just and will allow people to suffer the consequences of sin. But no, He doesn't enjoy their pain, and His hope is that they'll turn to Him. "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8 NIV)

Along with the saving grace of Jesus, that should be our prayer for them. The Lord will deal with them on their sins; our Christian responsibility is to pray for their salvation, remembering that God "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4 NIV)

In mustering those prayers, I find it helps to ask God to give me a DESIRE to pray for those who have wronged me or my loved ones. We know if we ask anything according to God's will, He hears us (1 John 5:14 NIV). And since we know it's His will that we pray for these folks, we can trust that He'll give us a willing heart. Praying for our enemies also helps us to forgive them, and it's only when we've forgiven that we're free to put things behind us. Harboring unforgiveness keeps us rooted in the past, unable to heal and move on. Why - WHY - would we give such power to someone who has wronged us?

God’s way is the only road to finishing first. "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:8-9 NIV)

At some point, we have to pray for the last person we want to, and put that sugar back on the pantry shelf. If we don't, we could end up with our own car troubles, probably during rush hour at the start of a holiday weekend.

After all, God sees everyone - and we ALL reap what we sow.


©Donna G. Morton, 2005

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE