Praying For Your Enemies
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles~Proverbs 24:17~
It is not a good thing to see someone go through pain and suffering, even if they have wronged you in some way. When God decides to punish one because of their wrong doing, it is no laughing matter. I have seen some people's livelihood hang in the hands of another man simply because they wronged them. One case in specific comes from personal experience.
I once worked for a company where i was sorely mistreated. At this time i was torn as to what i should do. Should i stay? Should i quit? I needed the money, my husband couldn't do it alone, i was in college, we had the kids, and quitting would set us back in our finances big time. It was the week of finals at school, i begin to pray. I prayed to God with tears in my eyes. I began to tell him everything. First, i began to repent for any wrong doing that i may have done, in case i brought this on myself. Then i began to pray about the situation at work. That night i picked up my bible, got in the bed and began to read. Shortly after, i drifted off to sleep. It was around 1:00 am in the morning when i jumped up out of my sleep, I heard a voice loud as day saying, "quit". I looked around, i knew my husband was on call at the hospital. I got up, walked around the house, checked on my daughter when i heard the voice again, it said "quit". I began to sit down and pray. I did not understand, but i trusted him enough to obey. See, sometimes God will ask us to do some things that we don't fully understand just to see if we trust him.
After talking with my husband about the decision, I quit my job. After leaving the company, six months later, i received a letter from the board summoning me to attend a hearing on behalf of we'll call her "Gina". You see Gina , was suspended from work, and on the verge of losing her job. The board had decided to include me in the decision making process on whether or not she could return to work. I immediately begin to pray. I knew Gina had done wrong to me and others too. I knew that i would still decide in Gina's favor to return to work, but i still prayed for God's will to be done in Gina's life. Regardless of Gina's terrible attitude toward everyone, she was a single parent, she had a house , a car and bills that needed to be paid. Her family depended on her.
On the day of the hearing, i showed up only to find out that the hearing had to be rescheduled. I ran into Gina after the brief meeting and told her that i hope things work out in her favor, and that i was voting for her to go back to work. Her and her representative thanked me and told me to come back. A few months later, i received another letter,and this time they were pushing for Gina to be fired. I began to pray. I knew i had not changed my mind about Gina keeping her job, but again i asked for God's will to be done in Gina's life. I found out later Gina had been fired. In spite of my prayers for Gina, they had let her go.
I Knew Gina had done some awful things to me, but when God fights your battle, all you can do is pray for the enemy. Although Gina got what she deserved, my heart greived for her son and family. Gina still had a family that loved and needed her. when she lost her job, her family suffered as well. I don't know how Gina is doing. I hope she is doing fine. We should never laugh at our enemy when we see them suffer, we should pray for them instead.
May God add a blessing to all whom read his word.
