"FRET NOT THYSELF BECAUSE OF EVILDOERS, NEITHER BE THOU ENVIOUS AGAINST THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY." - Psalm 37:1
Forgiving is one thing... and then there's the forgetting...
Back to the late 70's...
Much as it is now with many college teens, money was hard to come by when I was taking my university training back in 1979. At that time we were scrambling for weekend jobs which would net us $10 or $15 an afternoon. Imagine my excitement, then, when my roommate Kent approached me and told me that he had a new boss who would pay us over $25 a day... maybe even $30. Six of us scrambled over to sign on with the man, a local roofer in the town.
We spent that cold Saturday in 40 degree wind-driven rainy weather, assembling aluminum carports over customers' driveways. We had the itinerary of the whole day's list of assembly spots throughout the town.
"Listen, this man's whole week's wages depend on how well we get this stuff done. Let's help him out. Come on," my friend Kent chattered through the continuing drizzle, "lets see how many of these we can do for the owner!" The other guys nodded and grinned. We'd make the man amazed.
So, in that cold rawm rain, we doubled our efforts and put up carports across town - we took no break for lunch or resting. We were careful but also moving as a unit, quickly and efficiently. It was a great feeling doing a top-notch job... we went back to the dorms wet and cold but happy.
The next week Kent came to me, sickened. "The owner pulled a fast one - he won't pay us for anymore than the first house. "
"Quit kidding," I demanded."
"I'm not bluffing. He's drummed up a technicality about being off the original location!"
"But that's not fair," I cried, "he knows we've doubled his normal output!"
"No matter," said Kent, "He's found a technicality and refuses to pay us more than a couple of dollars."
And that's how it all ended. We got stiffed by a guy we broke our backs trying to help.
Even now, more than 30 years later, I can recall the bitterness I felt when I called the owner who breezily claimed to be a Christian yet freely admitted he had us over a barrel and that, yes, he was cheating us out of money.
"If you don't like it, send me back the rest of the money," he taunted.
I hung up the phone and swallowed hard.
Would it be easy to forgive? No.
But did I forgive? Yes.
And you know, all these years later, it still remains a hard memory....but I believe I have learned to forgive and let the Lord take charge. It's taken a load off me.
