Genesis 8:20-22Genesis 8:20-22 - God's Curious Remark
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In Reference to: Commentary by Frank L. Hoffman

By Elise - 15 Aug 2015

Hi,
 
Warning that this is more of a personal rant. Please skip if you are interested in more insights on this topic.
 
I just came across your site and really appreciate your insights. The idea that God made concessions for our wayward ways makes sense to me. We are so far from a whole perfect world that he knew he had to make concessions.  I think the sweet savor of the offering is more the sweetness of the repentant heart than the actual smoke after reading this site.
 
Lately I have been having a tough time trying to make concessions for a coworker. It's been so frustrating working with him. He and I were given the task of reducing costs but he has made no effort for now 3 years. He is completely opposed to taking bids, has no idea how to scale down projects or put a budget. Finally, just recently he talked to some of our landscapers etc about reducing rates per hour. But he has no idea how many acres we have to mow even!  He brought on 5 temporary workers so far this year who were all friends of his and he provided no training and one of them fell off the tractor and hurt his back. And each of those workers worked just a week or two. We both report directly to the same person but that person is the company owner and doesn't have the patience to tell my coworker exactly what to do on these personal (non business projects).  My co-worker and I both deal with personal and business things. Him from more of a take orders and carry out tasks and me from more of financial, pay bills, create brochures, etc. When I tell my boss the exorbitant costs for many of these jobs he is astounded and I go back and tell my co-worker we need to lower the cost next year for that job. Next year rolls around and he does the same exact thing for the same inflated cost!! Over these years his job tasks have been steadily decreasing and mine steadily increasing. The boss is tender hearted and sees that this employee has a lot of issues with his family. His daughter had cancer as a child and now as a teen she struggles with nerve damage from the chemo and lots of dr. Appointments. His son has adhd and was also one of the temporary landscape workers for a while.  My boss knew it took his son 3times longer to do the same job and while paid less the job is not done well and there are liability issues with him using heavy equipment.  This co-worker had a divorce a few years ago and has discovered he has children from other women around the same time which may have caused his Divorce. Although he quickly remarried, his mind has not been focused on his work since, according to my boss. But the boss gives concessions. I understand these hardships too but I also deal with this person's mouth and stubbornness. He refuses to discuss any of his convos with the boss, forcing me to go to the boss on occasion to figure out what's going on. He is defensive and mean and I feel like he takes out his frustration with the boss lessening his jobs on me. I was so frustrated recently that I told him The boss took away your responsibility dealing with another coworker because you were fraternizing with that co-worker in The boss's home and it bothered The boss. Instead of providing guidance not to talk with the other coworker, the boss flatly took away all the tasks he had with that person. That resulted in putting more burdens on me and others. And the co-worker had no idea! And when I told him that was the reason he no longer does all these things he completely denied it and said I'm giving misinformation because he doesn't talk on the job. And I thought i was giving a piece of info he would care to hear if he has any interest to keep his job.
 
Over the years I've watched this happen and mostly be ok with it. But when he is mouthy to me I get so angry inside. I ask God to help me. There are so many things God makes concessions for us why cannot I make concessions for this person and let it go. It's the boss's responsibility to manage and God put him in this position for a reason.   If he's not ready to deal with the situation at this time (the boss has said he fears this person may totally loose it). So His kind heart is one of the reasons. And God knows better than me and it's for God to fix not for me. I just don't like these feelings and tired of this broken world. I've been thinking lately are we ready for salvation. Are we ready to give up our tv and our coffee and our meat eating ways. And I think many are not. Maybe I am not. I've been going vegan/raw for the past 9 months and have had so many positive things from this. I want to share with my coworker that maybe his daughter would benefit from a fruit based raw diet. That his son would also benefit. But he is so deep in the military mindset and puts his faith in Drs and America and the way he has done things year after year. There is no open mindedness. I recently watched half of earthlings and just cried and prayed for God to come and end the suffering.  And afterwards I think that I should no longer buy leather goods. And I go back to the question am I ready for salvation?  I have leather shoes and leather trim on my purse and a beautiful suede jacket that was a gift. Do I get rid of these?  And so it goes. I find you have great insight and if you can give me any guidance from your years of searching the Torah and your own hearts I am very grateful. Thank you for your site.
 
Peace to you,
Elise

Go on to comments: By Frank and Mary Hoffman - 15 Aug 2015
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