He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. {Isaiah 50:8}
It was a day not many years ago when I was getting my job review for the year. I sat in front of the vice president and two of the head supervisors in my department beside me. It has to be one of the worst things I have ever experienced in my life, a very humiliating moment. I wasn’t living up to their expectations and I knew they were disappointed in me. I had always had great reviews prior to this, even in other jobs and companies I had worked for. Working hard and doing my very best in a job is one of the things I pride myself in and work hard to accomplish. Even when I don’t care about the job too much, I try to do my very best. But I have to admit I hated the job I was recently promoted to, because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t getting the training and attention that I needed. I saw others who were promoted to the same new position getting much more training and attention than I did. The administrator they had assigned to be my trainer was leaving to get married in 2 months, and she didn’t have enough time (or mindset) to give me the individual attention I needed. I felt like I was cramming for a final exam in one quick session every time I saw her. Plus there were whispers about whether she even really knew her job. But I was stuck with her. I had no other choice. It was sink or swim. I was told to go to her whenever I had any questions. There were many times I was more confused by her, rather than being helped to understand. I also felt intimated by her so that even when I had a question, I would take the time to figure out the answer on my own rather than bother her. I could have asked others to help me too but everywhere I looked, everyone was busy. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. I had passed all the exams required on my first attempt for my current position however, and that at least was a comfort to me because they weren’t easy exams to pass. Some of those that were getting promoted and getting better training than I did, failed those same exams. But I just couldn’t do the practical side of the job. Simply put, I wasn’t getting the right training and help I needed, and this left me utterly miserable. I couldn’t say anything about it because it would make another person look bad.
I tried my best for a few months, only to come to this moment of being talked down to like I’m an idiot. The approach my supervisor took with me was just so wrong, the tone of voice, the accusatory questions I couldn’t answer, it was humiliating. I felt so wronged. To make matters worse, I couldn’t speak up, because my trainer was my supervisor’s closest friend’s daughter! How can I complain about her? How could I badmouth this person and not be attacked with further insults and incur a heavier punishment? Not only that, it would also reflect badly on one of the supervisors that was in there in the room with us. I was scared and felt so oppressed. I knew I couldn’t say anything. I felt that they would just turn on me even if I did say something. They would be defensive. Anyway, it wouldn’t be right, and it didn’t feel right even though it seemed like it’s the right thing to do to save myself from this humiliation. I couldn’t speak up to defend myself. I felt so oppressed. Needless to say, they demoted me. They couldn’t keep me promoted, even though others who were promoted failed the exams that were crucial to their position and I passed. I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say, so I just kept it all in. I held on with all my will power not to cry in front of them. Inside all I could say was, “Jesus, help me. Help me be strong.” My insides shook. I didn’t want to cry. I was afraid the tears will come falling down my face any second now but I held on hard and kept saying in my mind, “Jesus, please help me. Help me.” And He knew the kind of help I needed. I didn’t want them to see how much I hurt inside. Even though I was hurting, I didn’t want them to feel bad about it. And He helped me. He saw me through that moment and not a tear came down my face. It was one of the worst moments of my life that I will never forget. But God came through for me.
Life is going to treat you like a doormat sometimes. It’s not going to always be fair. Sometimes the people you thought you could trust the most because they’re in the position of authority and have the power to help you, will end up turning around to hurt you, to belittle you and overpower you. Friends, loved ones, and even family members can turn around and hurt you. Maybe sometimes they don’t mean to, but you hurt anyway because they were thoughtless and insensitive and did not care.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced something like this, something so painful and so humiliating you wonder how can the world be so cruel? How can people be so unkind? I have seen and heard others that have suffered so much worse than me. I can only imagine what they must go through. And you can’t help but wonder has God forgotten about me? Has He stopped caring and doesn’t care whether I hurt or not? Surely, He’s forgotten about me.
But God always cares. He never forgets. He has not forgotten about you. The Lord tells us in His word,
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. {Isaiah 49:15-16}
Jesus tells us Himself,
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. {Matthew 28:20}
The Lord cares very much even when others don’t. It’s not His fault when people turn against us and disrespect us and hurt us. God never changes. He continues to be good and holy. He continues to be the God who is loving and good. He never stops being righteous and true. He will always stand to His word and do what is good and right in His eyes. So when people hurt us, it’s because they don’t know God. They don’t know His love, and have not experienced the power of His love. You can’t expect love from people who were never shown love or compassion to, or have experienced what it is like to receive mercy in return. They will do what is natural to them, what was shown to them in their lives and will act accordingly. God however never condones people for doing us wrong. He will always be on the side of those who do what is good and right, and who shows mercy.
I think about a special person in the Old Testament who was unfairly treated. He definitely did not deserve to be treated that way. What made it even worse, was that it wasn’t strangers who were cruel to him and humiliated him. It wasn’t even friends or his neighbors that he knew over the other side of town. It was his own brothers. Joseph was so hated by his own brothers that they conspired against him and sold him to become a slave. People that should have loved him and protected him from any harm, instead hated him and betrayed him. Talk about pain and suffering. Talk about rejection and loneliness. Talk about, “God, where are you now in this picture?” But God was always there. He never forsook Joseph. As a matter of fact, Joseph’s suffering didn’t end there with his brothers. Just when he thought it was going great for him in the new land where he was a slave, the master’s wife turned against him and conspired against him too. He ended up being thrown in the dungeon. Yet, he didn’t do anything wrong. He was actually doing what was right. This master’s wife wanted to sleep with him, but Joseph refused her and ran away from her. He told her she had a husband, how can he do such a wicked thing in the sight of God? She became incensed against him and with the fury of a woman scorned, she had him locked up. Talk about humiliating. For years he was imprisoned, but God never forgot Joseph. Even throughout all those horrible seasons of Joseph’s life, God never forgot Him. So many of us know the rest of the story. One day God took him out of the dungeon and lifted him up in the eyes of all the people in the land. Joseph ended up interpreting Pharaoh’s dream that was crucial to the saving of the Egyptians and the many people in the neighboring countries from a future famine. Pharaoh made Joseph a governor over all the land of Egypt, the highest most powerful position in the land next only to Pharaoh. Man may forget but God never will. When He sees you’ve been wronged and yet you continue to do what is right, He will also remember you and will turn around and bless you.
We may be tempted to hate those that have wronged us. But what good is that going to do us? No one ever became happy hating people. Hating people is like turning your own gas chamber on to yourself, it will surely kill you in the end. It will never do you any good. The only way to get even with those that hurt you is to forgive them, so that you can stay happy. Hateful people hate seeing others happy. It riles them up. But even better than being happy, is to love and forgive them, so that you end up praying they will become happy too. Why? Because praying for them to become happy will turn them around to treat people better. They will stop being miserable and terrible to deal with, and will want to treat people right. When you’re happy you treat people right. When you’re miserable you treat people wrong. They might even end up treating you well. In the end, forgiving those who hurt us and even choosing to forget the things they’ve done against us is the way to peace. Its a peace that will carry you until the end of your life, and will cause you to be happy and see God.
God never forgets the unfair things done to us. In the end the Bible tells us that God will revenge those who have hurt us. He will not forget. The Bible tells us:
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. {Romans 12:19}
Joseph’s brothers ended up having to repent of their wickedness before Joseph. Joseph ended up feeding them and taking care of them. Because of the famine they went to Egypt to buy food. In the end they saw how God raised Joseph up. He became a lord over them. But Instead of hating his brothers and reviling them and shaming them, when they came to him later to ask for his forgiveness, Joseph spoke kindly to them and forgave them.
We can’t get too high and mighty either, we should also remember that we are not perfect ourselves. I am sure one way or another we’ve have hurt people too. I know I have. I am a guilty party myself. But I have come to experience God’s grace and forgiveness. I have come to experience His goodness and His love which has changed me, and has given me so much more joy today. I hate hurting people now. It just doesn’t pay. Even when I feel I have every right to hurt them back. If we want God’s mercy upon us instead of His vengeance, then we should also ask Him for His mercy for those who have hurt us. If we want God’s favor and God’s grace, we must also forgive and do what is good and right to those that have hurt us. If we want God’s blessing we have no other choice about it, but to pray for those that have unjustly used us.
In the end it is God who is going to justify those that do right and look to Him for His grace and mercy. He will never forget our suffering. He knows those that suffer for righteousness sake, those who refuse to do wrong or defend themselves because they remember Him. Doing what is good when you’re being wronged because you remember God and respect His word, is honoring God. It brings God’s grace upon your life. It will usher in God’s mercy and favor. The Bible tells us that whatever we sow we will reap. So if we sow what is good despite the unfairness we’re going through, down the road we will reap our reward. God will never forget us. He will bless us and will favor us. He will lift us up near to Him. He will cause us to enjoy so much more peace and joy than we have ever known before. The rewards that God will give to us can never be compared to the false satisfaction of “being right” and avenging ourselves and putting people in their place. By and by if we wait on Him, He will bless us. He will bring us near and dear to Him and will cause us to experience life everlasting in the end with Him.
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. {1 Peter 5:7}
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. {Psalm 139:2}
Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee. {Proverbs 20:22}
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. {1 Thessalonians 5:15}
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. {1 Peter 3:9}
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. {Galatians 6:7}
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. {Deuteronomy 31:6}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your undying love for me. I thank You that You will never ever leave me nor forsake me. You are ever so good and full of compassion, slow to anger and of a great mercy. You will always uphold the righteous and will not justify the wicked. If we repent Lord God, You will accept us but if we continue to do wickedly You will reject us. For You will never condone those who do wickedly and hurt people without mercy.
Help me then Father, to do what is good and right before Your eyes. Help me to continue to do what is good even when it is not fair at all. Please Father You alone can help me. I don’t have what it takes to easily forget a wrong or even forgive those that have hurt me. It is not easy Lord and sometimes I find it impossible to do. You who suffered wrong by the hands of wicked men and was nailed to the cross being innocent, forgave them and did not avenge yourself against them. Please help me to do the same to those that have badly hurt me. I cannot forgive or forget without Your help, Jesus. Please help me today, I pray Father. In Your most holy and wonderful name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
