Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing so honestly about how heavy and painful work has been. To dread going each day, to feel the environment is hostile and broken and hopeless, is a real burden, and it is right to bring that burden to the Lord and to ask for wisdom about what to do next.
It is also understandable to want accountability when you have been treated badly. Wanting truth to be known and wrongs to be addressed is not wrong in itself. God cares about justice and truth. At the same time, Scripture helps us see something important about our own hearts when we have been hurt. When someone else has wronged us, we naturally cry out for justice, for that person to get what they deserve. When we ourselves stand before God, we cry out for mercy, for God not to give us what we deserve. Mercy, by definition, is not getting what we deserve, while justice is getting what we deserve.
The Bible shows us that God is full of compassion, gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. If He gave us strict justice alone, none of us could stand, because all have sinned. David, after his own serious sin, did not try to justify himself. He acknowledged his wrong and cast himself on God's mercy, asking God to blot out his transgressions according to His tender mercies. Forgiveness comes when we confess honestly before God, not when we excuse ourselves. And God promises that though sins are as scarlet, He can make them white as snow. His mercy endures forever, and it is as high as the heavens are above the earth toward those who fear Him.
That mercy and that justice meet together in Jesus Christ. On the cross, the penalty for sin was paid so that God can remain just and still show mercy to guilty people. Through Jesus, righteousness and peace embrace. That is why God can abundantly pardon. He delights in mercy and looks for reasons to show it, even when justice alone would call for judgment.
This is why, as you pray for this meeting, it helps to ask God to shape the prayer itself. It is good to pray that those in leadership will listen with clear minds, with fairness and compassion, that truth will be heard, and that you will be given calm and wise words. The Holy Spirit can guide your mouth and mind so you speak truthfully, without saying what would harm the cause or your own conscience. Pray for that guidance.
It is also good to ask God to guard your heart from bitterness while you seek a just outcome. You can ask for appropriate accountability and for a healthier workplace without making the destruction of other people the goal of your prayer. God is sovereign and He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He also sees every wrong. You can leave the final outcome in His hands, trusting Him to move those leaders to do what is right and wise, whether that is correction, discipline, training, reassignment, or in some cases termination, according to what is truly just and needed.
And as hard as it is, ask God to help you want for others the kind of mercy you want for yourself. That does not mean pretending the hurt did not happen or that everything is fine. It means releasing vengeance to God, asking Him to work in the hearts of those coworkers as well, that they might see their actions, repent, and change. It means asking God to heal you, to lift the dread, and to make you able to walk in peace whether or not the workplace changes immediately.
I will pray with you toward that end. Father, have mercy upon us all, for we all need Your mercy. You are gracious and slow to anger and Your mercy endures forever. We ask for truth to be made clear in this meeting, for wisdom and self control in speech, and for leaders to act with both truth and mercy. Bring healing to this workplace, convict where conviction is needed, bring repentance where repentance is needed, and bring peace and strength to this dear one who is hurting. Grant protection, guidance, and a heart that reflects Your mercy because it has received Your mercy through Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is also understandable to want accountability when you have been treated badly. Wanting truth to be known and wrongs to be addressed is not wrong in itself. God cares about justice and truth. At the same time, Scripture helps us see something important about our own hearts when we have been hurt. When someone else has wronged us, we naturally cry out for justice, for that person to get what they deserve. When we ourselves stand before God, we cry out for mercy, for God not to give us what we deserve. Mercy, by definition, is not getting what we deserve, while justice is getting what we deserve.
The Bible shows us that God is full of compassion, gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. If He gave us strict justice alone, none of us could stand, because all have sinned. David, after his own serious sin, did not try to justify himself. He acknowledged his wrong and cast himself on God's mercy, asking God to blot out his transgressions according to His tender mercies. Forgiveness comes when we confess honestly before God, not when we excuse ourselves. And God promises that though sins are as scarlet, He can make them white as snow. His mercy endures forever, and it is as high as the heavens are above the earth toward those who fear Him.
That mercy and that justice meet together in Jesus Christ. On the cross, the penalty for sin was paid so that God can remain just and still show mercy to guilty people. Through Jesus, righteousness and peace embrace. That is why God can abundantly pardon. He delights in mercy and looks for reasons to show it, even when justice alone would call for judgment.
This is why, as you pray for this meeting, it helps to ask God to shape the prayer itself. It is good to pray that those in leadership will listen with clear minds, with fairness and compassion, that truth will be heard, and that you will be given calm and wise words. The Holy Spirit can guide your mouth and mind so you speak truthfully, without saying what would harm the cause or your own conscience. Pray for that guidance.
It is also good to ask God to guard your heart from bitterness while you seek a just outcome. You can ask for appropriate accountability and for a healthier workplace without making the destruction of other people the goal of your prayer. God is sovereign and He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He also sees every wrong. You can leave the final outcome in His hands, trusting Him to move those leaders to do what is right and wise, whether that is correction, discipline, training, reassignment, or in some cases termination, according to what is truly just and needed.
And as hard as it is, ask God to help you want for others the kind of mercy you want for yourself. That does not mean pretending the hurt did not happen or that everything is fine. It means releasing vengeance to God, asking Him to work in the hearts of those coworkers as well, that they might see their actions, repent, and change. It means asking God to heal you, to lift the dread, and to make you able to walk in peace whether or not the workplace changes immediately.
I will pray with you toward that end. Father, have mercy upon us all, for we all need Your mercy. You are gracious and slow to anger and Your mercy endures forever. We ask for truth to be made clear in this meeting, for wisdom and self control in speech, and for leaders to act with both truth and mercy. Bring healing to this workplace, convict where conviction is needed, bring repentance where repentance is needed, and bring peace and strength to this dear one who is hurting. Grant protection, guidance, and a heart that reflects Your mercy because it has received Your mercy through Jesus Christ. Amen.
