Have you ever had a boss you couldn’t stand? My goodness I thank God for Jesus. Of course I am referring to a time passed. It was in the early 90’s. I used to work at D’Agostino’s in New York. It was a chain of high end supermarkets mainly located in Manhattan and other areas that were sort of pricey to live. I worked both the produce and deli areas. The store manager used to ride me for every little thing. At one time I wrote down everything he made an issue about and I made sure I corrected them. This man found another set of things that was an issue. This was one of those jobs that were fun to have because you speak to different people every day, however knowing he was going to be in the store just killed it. I used to imagine myself beating him silly. I used to think that one day, I will show up at the job around closing time and mask myself, and just beat him until I was bored. Yes, that is how angry this man made me.
Then the most beautiful thing happened. The big bosses came by, and the store was a mess. That is what they used to do. They would pop in to see if a good store is always maintained. Apparently it was bad enough to terminate him. When I said I rejoiced, I rejoiced! I had conversations with co-workers telling them how he got what he deserved. I spoke with customers sharing the same sentiment. I mean I was really a happy camper. To be honest, when I look back and seen my behavior, I was outright mean about it. Two weeks later, I was terminated. No reason was given, and the union did nothing about it. I moved on and did not think much about it, until I was saved and studied God’s word.
In Proverbs, which is known as the book of wisdom, there is a verse that speaks to my behavior back then. It reads “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.” (Pr 24:17-18) We are to have compassion on those who wrong us. I know it is hard, and trust me it is hard for me, but we must. We do not know what they are going through for them to behave this way. You know how we can get. Have you ever been real hungry or tired, and one of your friends chooses this time of all times to now want to play with you? Have you ever had a sore foot, just for someone to step on it by accident? How about having a severe headache and your kids are making their normal playful sounds when they have their toys in front of them? Well it is the same with people who seem to just be mean. The key word there is “seem.” We all handle trials and tribulations differently, and although it does not make sense at the time, that person needs our love. However, when we hope they fall, and rejoice in it, do we not show the same kind of ugly that they’ve showed us?
I tell everybody that is hard to be a child of God, especially if you are used to punching someone in their mouth for being hard to you. However we are to show compassion always, and understanding, and not perform a victory dance if that same person falls. God, for the sake of that person’s soul, will lift his punishment off of them, and turn it on to you. Payback can be a….emm emm, but it can easily find its way back to you. Amen!
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