Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week (16 page)

No wonder David was a champion. No wonder he was promoted. He knew how to let God be his avenger.

I wonder how many people, just like David, have been anointed to do something great in life, to be in a position of leadership, a place of honor, and to fulfill their God-given dreams, but they never passed the test. They were too busy trying to pay back those who hurt them, the Sauls in their lives. They do not realize that those who do you wrong are simply distractions.

Use your time and energy to move toward your God-given destiny. Avoid the trap of the payback, and understand you cannot avenge yourself as God can avenge you. God’s ways are bigger and better than your own. He can take those who try to hurt you and use them to promote you.

Your attitude should be:
I’ll let God be my avenger. I know when God vindicates me I’ll come out smelling like a rose. You may look down on me now, but one day you’ll look up to me. I may not have much today, but one day you’ll wish you had what I have.

I love the way David put it in Psalm 23, verse 5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (
NKJV
). God will not only avenge you and make your wrongs right, but He will also bless you in front of your enemies. He could promote you anywhere, but He’ll promote you in front of those trying to make you look bad. He’ll give you favor, honor, and recognition. One day those who stabbed you in the back will watch you receive the credit you deserve.

Knowing that God prepares the table for us in the presence of our enemies keeps me from being discouraged when people talk unfavorably of me. You see, I know God just sent the angels to the grocery store. If somebody lies about you, no big deal. You can see Gabriel setting the table.

Your critics can see the meal on God’s table, but they aren’t invited to the party. They’ll have to watch you enjoy what God has prepared for you. They will watch as you are promoted.

Be ready. If you’ve done the right thing and overlooked offenses and negative words and blessed your enemies, then know God’s table is set. Your dinner is ready. It’s just a matter of time before you’re seated at the table.

Your enemies may try to spoil the party by stealing your joy. They’ll plant doubts, but shake them off. The dinner bell will ring for you at any moment. Those hindering you, trying to bring you down, will see you stepping to a new level. They will see God’s favor and goodness enter your life in a greater way.

A mechanic at a big diesel shop told me that for many years he was treated unfairly at work. It was a very negative environment. His co-workers constantly made fun of him. They thought he was a stiff because he wouldn’t party with them after work. Year after year he had to endure this ridicule.

He was one of the best mechanics at that company, but in seven years he had never had a promotion, not a raise, or a bonus—nothing—because his supervisor didn’t like him. He could have worked with a chip on his shoulder, but he took the high road, knowing God was his vindicator.

Then, one day, the owner of the company called him. They had never met because the owner wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations. But for some reason he called the mechanic and said he was retiring. He offered to sell his business to the mechanic.

“I don’t have money to buy your company,” the mechanic said.

“You don’t need money,” the owner said. “I will loan it to you.”

Today, the mechanic owns the company free and clear. God set the table, and he was served. Now those who had called him names must call him Boss instead. They used to look down on him. Now they look up to him. They used to blow him off and not give him the time of day. Now they have to make an appointment if they want to see him!

Don’t take matters into your own hands. If you’ll let God be your vindicator, He will bring justice and He will promote you right in front of those trying to make you look bad.

Proverbs 16:7 says, “When G
OD
approves of your life, even your enemies will end up shaking your hand” (The Message).

I met a man in our church lobby who said, “I was your biggest critic. I was always talking about you, blogging against you. And I came to one of your services to find something else to criticize. But I liked it so much I came back the next week. It’s been six months. I haven’t missed a service yet. Now I’m your biggest supporter.” He reached out and shook my hand.

God will cause your enemies to shake your hand, too. You may have people you’re at odds with. You may have a co-worker or family member who holds a grudge against you. Maybe you’ve done your best to be kind and respectful and acted toward them just the opposite of what they’ve shown you. Maybe the kinder you are, the more hateful they are.

It would be easy for you to be bitter toward them, but don’t sink to their level. Keep doing the right thing. God is a God of justice. He knows how to change people’s hearts. It may take a week. It may take a year or twenty-five years. But God promises that one day those who would hurt you now will reach out and shake your hand.

A friend of mine, Larry, is in the real-estate business. He is a hard worker who has always given his job 100 percent and maintained a great attitude. However, the owner of the firm where he started out, Charles, treated him poorly. He refused to listen to any of my friend’s suggestions and made things difficult. Larry continued to do his best, but inevitably the owner fired him.

To his credit, Larry didn’t become bitter. Instead, he started his own real-estate company and became extremely successful. He forgot all about Charles, but God is a God of justice. He never forgets what you are owed.
You may let it go, but God doesn’t let it go. He makes sure you get everything you deserve.

Several years later, Charles had to downsize his business. He needed a new building, and the one he found was owned by Larry. The former boss nearly passed out when he walked in and realized that he was about to rent a building owned by the man he had fired.

You can believe that this time, Charles listened to everything Larry had to say. He treated his former employee with respect and honor. He listened carefully. He valued his opinion. Today, Charles pays rent, a very steep rent, to Larry. That’s God causing your enemies to shake your hand. That’s God giving you the last laugh.

God wants to promote you in front of your opponents. Part of His justice is vindicating you so those who said you would fail see you succeeding and accomplishing your dreams.

A minister I know spent more than fifty years traveling the world and doing good. He was beloved everywhere he went. But the newspaper in his hometown was always finding something wrong with his church. He could do a hundred things right. They wouldn’t report on that. They would find the one thing he did wrong and make a big deal about it. This went on year after year.

My minister friend had an interesting perspective. He said, “If it had not been for that newspaper, I would not have accomplished so much. They not only kept me on my knees, they also gave me fuel to prove them wrong. Their critical spirit, that injustice, put me in a position to receive God’s favor in a greater way.”

He went on to build a big university in that town. Thousands of young people have attended. It seemed the least likely place for him to be blessed, the least likely place for him to accomplish his dreams. But God says, “That’s where I prepare the table. That’s where I want to increase you. That’s where I want to show you unusual favor.”

According to Genesis 26:1, there was once a great famine in the land of Israel. For many months there was a drought that turned the region into a
wasteland. A young man named Isaac was about to pack up and move to another place. But God said, “No, Isaac. I don’t want you to leave there. I’m blessing you right where you are.”

Isaac obeyed God’s command and planted his fields. The Philistines who lived there didn’t like Isaac and were already jealous of him. This added fuel to their fire and their ridicule of him. But Isaac, whose name means “laughter,” just stayed in peace.

Several months later, all those who had mocked and criticized Isaac were amazed to see his fields. They couldn’t believe it.

The Scripture says that Isaac “reaped in the same year a hundredfold” (Genesis 26:12) more than he planted right there in the midst of the famine.

Isaac’s critics were dumbfounded, but he knew God had set the table and blessed him.

At some point, you may be tempted to run from a bad situation, but I want you to have a new perspective. You do not have to leave in order to be blessed. God wants to bless you right where you are.

Part of His vindication is promoting you so the opposition can see it. Your attitude should be:
They may be laughing now, but I know this challenge is preparing the way for God to promote me. They meant it to hold me down, but God will use it to thrust me forward!

You may be dealing with critics, naysayers, backbiters, backstabbers, those who are jealous and who say you’ll never make it. Let me assure you that God will give them a clear view of your table. He’ll make sure they see you promoted, honored, and accomplished.

Let God be your avenger. Let God right your wrongs. If you let Him do the avenging, you will always come out better. He will even cause your enemies to end up shaking your hand. They may be laughing now, but know this: God is faithful. In the end, you will have the last laugh. He will bring justice into your life.

W
hen I returned from college to begin Lakewood’s television outreach, I was nineteen years old. I didn’t know a lot about television production, so we hired an experienced producer from California. He was in his sixties and had produced major-league sports and network morning shows in a long career.

He was knowledgeable, talented, and had a great personality. He was fun to be around. We hit it off from the very start. I would come in early, stay late, go to dinner with him, and hang out. I watched very carefully how he put the programs together and how he chose certain camera shots.

I was learning so much from him. I used to think,
I could never do what he does. He is so creative. He can write. He can direct. I’m just not that talented.

The veteran producer had been mentoring me for about a year when he came in one day and announced that he was leaving in a month.

“No way,” I said. “You cannot leave me with this job. I don’t know what to do.”

He assured me that I’d do just fine.

“You’ve watched me for a year, and I’ve watched you, too,” he said. “You can handle the job by yourself now.”

I wasn’t convinced. I pleaded with him to stay, offered him a raise and more time off, but he insisted that it was time to move on.

The first couple of weeks after his departure, I was so nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing. I called him every other hour with questions. But
in a month I started to feel more comfortable. In six months I thought,
I’m pretty good at this
. A year later I said, “What did I ever need
him
for?”

I realize now that my mentor did me a favor by leaving. He forced me to stretch and to use my God-given talents. If he had not departed, I never would have stepped into my divine destiny.

A crutch is a temporary tool we use for walking following an injury to a leg or foot. Once the injury is healed, we put the crutch away and walk on our own. The word
crutch
is also used to describe something or someone we may rely on short-term to help us get through a period of challenge. The term takes on a bad connotation, though, when used to describe something that we’ve become unnecessarily dependent upon, usually to the detriment of our physical, mental, or emotional progress.