Have you heard the cliché “power corrupts?” The strength in Clichés comes from the truth they represent. Anger and resentment rear their ugly heads when we have to submit to unfair supervisors. The men and women who use authority to lord it over others and make life miserable for subordinates use their position to fill a need in their own lives.
Serving under an individual who does not respect our ideas and abilities can embitter us or cause us to draw closer to God. Once when serving under someone who appeared to enjoy pointing out mistakes, I found myself wishing the person would die. I was stunned at my murderous attitude. Repentance involved beginning to include prayers for God to reveal himself to the individual.
The Holy Spirit understands the difficulty of serving that kind of a person and has provided a way of looking at things so that we can find relief and escape the temptation to resent those over us. He tells us “Obey your bosses, not with eye-service, as tempting to please men, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:22-23).
Knowing that you are serving God makes it a lot easier, doesn’t it?
