“Oh, this is too hard!” Sarah exclaimed throwing the book she was reading down.
“What’s that?” Uncle Jeff exclaimed as he walked into the room, “What do you mean it’s too hard? Is that your Bible Study book you are reading again?”
“Yes, it is,” Sarah replied, “and just listen to what it is saying now….’Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you!’ How can we do that Uncle Jeff? All I want to do is to sock them one and pay them back!”
“Well, I can understand that”, said Uncle Jeff, “But what chance would we have if God had done that to us? The Bible says that He gives the sun and the rain to ALL people, both the good and the bad!”
“Yes, and then it goes on to say if someone borrows something from you and doesn’t give it back we aren’t to ask for it back, and if someone picks on you, you are to be nice to them. All I want to do is the do the same to them!”
“Well,” Uncle Jeff said slowly, “I know what you mean, but I can tell you this, that if you pray for someone who has been mean to you instead of paying them back, it mightn’t change them, but it WILL change you and how you feel towards them! I’ll tell you a story about this sort of thing….”
“This is a true story and happened about a hundred years ago to my mother’s aunt and uncle. Aunt and Uncle were good church going people and never missed going to Sunday services. Next door changed hands and the new people didn’t like Christians at all, and were really nasty to them, calling them names as Aunt and Uncle drove past in their buggy to church, and throwing rubbish over the fence into their garden.
It really got to Aunt, and one day she said to Uncle, ‘What are we going to do about these horrid neighbours?’
‘Well,’ he said, ‘There’s only one thing we can do and that is to pray for them!’
“I don’t feel a bit like it’, Aunt said.
So they made a point of praying for them every morning at the breakfast table. But the neighbours still went on being horrid and nasty. Then Aunt discovered she was having a new baby, and so was the other lady next door. When the babies were born, Aunt found she had a lot of milk to feed her baby on, but the neighbour lady couldn’t seem to make milk. You must remember this was in the days before you could go to the shop and buy baby foods. Aunt’s baby was growing and happy, but the other one was getting thinner and thinner and was always crying and fretful.
In the end, the husband came across to Uncle looking a bit shamefaced, and said, ‘Is there some way you can help us? Our baby is not growing at all and I’m afraid it might get sick and die.’
Aunt and Uncle talked it over, and then Uncle went next door and said, ’We’ve decided that since Mum has plenty of milk for our little one, she will feed your baby for you on one condition.’
‘What’s that?’ the neighbour said.
‘You must come and live with us and have your meals with us and listen while we read the Bible after we’ve eaten dinner at night, and breakfast in the morning, and Mum will feed your little one for you.’
The neighbour man didn’t like this idea much, but they were desperate about the condition of their baby, so they agreed, and then moved in.”
“Wow!” said Sarah, “That wouldn’t have been easy!”
“No, it wasn’t, Uncle and Aunt were still praying for these neighbours, and this helped them to be kind and put up with the grumpiness of the husband.”
“So what happened?” Sarah asked.
“The neighbours’ baby soon stopped being cross and it started to grow and become a happy little thing. Aunt got quite fond of it as she fed it every meal time. The babies grew together and soon began to talk baby talk to each other. After a couple of months of Aunt and Uncle being kind and helpful to these people, the neighbours began to ask questions about the Bible stories that Uncle was reading to them. Over the next few months, the ladies became fond of each other too, and one day both the neighbours became Christians and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves. Wasn’t that wonderful? And all because Aunt and Uncle did what Jesus was talking about in this passage that you said was too hard to do!”
“What happened in the end?” Sarah asked.
“Well, the babies were both able to start eating mashed vegetables, and didn’t need mother’s milk the same way, so the neighbours moved back to their own house. Now, instead of being mean and nasty to Aunt and Uncle, they became the best of friends and all went off to church together each Sunday. So you see Sarah, it DOES pay to pray for your enemies and you will find it easier to do kind things for them,” said Uncle Jeff.
“Did you ever know this Uncle and Aunt, Uncle Jeff?” Sarah asked.
“No, I didn’t meet them, it was before my time,” Uncle Jeff said, “But my mother often talked about them and reminded us to be nice to those who are nasty to us, because you never know what God will do for them!”