In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
I sighed and your heard me. I wavered and you steadied me. I travelled along the broad way of the world, but you did not desert me.
Augustine
Who amongst us hasn’t been faced with disagreeable and downright unjust situations where favoritism has been shown to others? As a young adult worker, I recall observing a supervisor blatantly ignore the poor work ethic of a favored co-worker while the rest of us labored hard. Admittedly, it was hard to watch and difficult to accept.
I’ve thought long and hard about that unfair situation and wondered if I might have handled it differently now that I’m much older. I recall going to the Lord and began to pray for his wisdom and guidance. I remember asking the Lord to help me to overcome evil with good and it became my mission to show kindness, compassion and respect to this unfair individual.
Situations May Not Change But We Can
You may wonder if my change in attitude toward my manager altered my sorry situation. It didn’t. Except that it did. You see, my situation didn’t get any better, but God changed my heart, my mind, my attitude and those inner changes made all the difference in me.
We Can View Others With Eyes Of Compassion
When I humbly placed myself under the submission of God and asked him for the grace to love the person who was acting unloving (and unfairly) toward me, he began to soften my heart towards this woman. I slowly began to see her through different eyes. I started to see her through the eyes of Jesus and the more consistently I prayed for her, the more compassion and understanding grew within my heart.
God Gives Us The Grace To Be Respectful
In truth, I also learned much from her. I was young and inexperienced. She was highly skilled and efficient. While I could respect her position and her skills and abilities, I didn’t respect her treatment of her staff. By God’s grace, I was able to separate the two. I respected her position even if I couldn’t respect her and thereby, I was able to demonstrate a humble, gracious attitude toward her.
God Shows Grace To The Humble
That early lesson has been foundational in my life because through the years there has been numerous occasions where I found myself in situations where I was tempted to cry foul. Thankfully, the Lord continually reminds me that, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble,” and I’d much rather be on the receiving end of God’s favor than trying to go it proudly alone in my own strength. Wouldn’t you?
Take-away Action Thought
When I start to get angry or resentful about unfair treatment from someone, I will go directly to this passage in 1 Peter 5 and prayerfully meditate on these powerful promises. I’ll write these verses down and take them with me into the difficulty I’m facing for strong and steady guidance that remind me that God will care for me.
My Heart’s Cry to You, O Lord
Father, I feel upset about the way I am being treated at my workplace. It’s so unfair that the person who is in authority over me doesn’t seem to notice or care that some of us are working hard and others are not working at all. Help me to keep coming to you with my struggles and give me the grace to leave them with you as I trust you to intervene on my behalf. Clothe me with humility, grace, and compassion toward my offender. And please give me the wisdom I need day by day to effectively navigate this troubling situation until you remove me from it. Amen.
Practicing Grace and Gratitude
- Grace and gratitude from God – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Each day this week, I’ll take time to prayerfully consider anything (or anyone) with whom I’m struggling with or find difficult to love. I will specifically pray for God to clothe me with humility in all situations and trust him to work on my behalf.
- Grace and gratitude in me – In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. This week, I will spend time praying for all those who are placed in authority over me. I will ask God to draw them to himself if they do not have a saving faith in Jesus and I’ll pray with intentional mindfulness toward their eternal needs.
- Grace and gratitude in life – All of you, clothes yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” My prayer will be that God equips me to demonstrate godliness, compassion, and humility consistently wherever I am and toward whomever I am with.
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