“I will never allow a
man to cheat me. I will be seen as weak, and exploited to no end. Even
Christians are unbrotherly when it comes to business sometimes.”
How then can
you fully obey God? If you can’t ever be cheated then you can’t walk as Christ. If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other
one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well Lk 6:29 (CEV). What belongs to you will come to you as
you serve the Lord. And it doesn’t really depend on people’s disposition
towards you but on the hand of God upon you. When God has put you under the authority,
under the employment of a cheat or deceiver, do not use the injustice and bad
treatment as an excuse. Serve with all your heart.
“Poor
you! Doesn’t scripture warn against suffering needlessly by being simple
minded?” Stay away from
them, because such people are not serving … our Lord, but their own desires. By
their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the
unsuspecting Rom 16:17-18 (ISV).
I
am not referring to naive, foolish reasoning. God expects us to avoid that. I
mean keeping integrity in a business or employment despite trickery on the part
of others. When you do so you may be cheated but I assure you no harm will come
to you.
“What scripture is there
to prove this?”
Good.
Consider Jacob and Laban. His father had commanded him to go there, and God made
a covenant of blessing with him (Gen 28:1-4; 13-15). Yet see how Laban treated him:" I never once ate any of the rams from your
flock, and whatever was torn by beasts, I never bothered to bring to you.
Instead, I bore the losses myself. Even so, you demanded that I provide
restitution for anything that was stolen, whether during the day or the night.
As it was, I was attacked by drought during the day and by cold at night. I
never got any decent rest.” Gen 31:38(ISV). Hear his testimony before his wives after 20
years of service: You know I've
been serving your father with all my heart. Even so, your father has cheated
me. He broke our wage agreement ten times. However, God didn't allow him to
harm me Gen 31:6-7(ISV). Jacob served
for 14years and got no sheep. he was serving with his heart and Laban cheated him; and yet God had promised to be with him all through his stay there. Serve with all your heart. You may be cheated;
not harmed.
“I wonder why
he didn’t leave the man and kept staying under those conditions.”
well in 6 years God transferred
the wealth of Laban to him. Fear not when you are among wolves and deceivers;
never allow your eyes or hand to learn tricks. What of Isaac and the
Philistines? They hated him, closed up his father’s wells, drove him away, and
took over his own wells. "Why have
you come to see me," Isaac asked them, "since you hate me so much
that you sent me away from you?" Gen 26:27(ISV). Yet they
couldn’t harm him. He waxed great, so great he was too powerful for a whole nation of philistines. Now I know Christians who never got their
money back. That may be true. we have lost homes and been displaced; but we won't be cheated. God has something far more precious to give: you gladly let
your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better,
something that would last forever Heb 10:34.
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