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I pumped in $3 worth and then handed the attendant the $5 to pay.

This is when he informed me that I owed $6. I was confused and dumbfounded but finally got it through my thick head what had happened. In actuality, this was a horrible injustice because I had not been informed, neither was there a note on the pump.

When I tried to offer a check to make up the difference, the owner of the station bluntly let me know, he didn't accept checks. What was I to do?

Now my baby was crying, the weather was sweltering and I was stumped as to what to do. I couldn't leave to go cash a check somewhere, I was running out of time to tend to my child, I wasn't even sure if the car would start again and now faced with thise problem.

I borrowed his phone and called my mom, to ask her advice. She couldn't believe this guy's attitude. Truly, he was being belligerent. She told me, I had no other choice but to make out a check for a lousy $1 and give it to the man.

I made out the check and when I tried to hand it to the man, he let it fly off in the wind and then started yelling, he was going to call the police.

What was I to do? I managed to get the car started and I drove off. As soon as I got home, I called my dad who went immediately to that gas station. He settled with the man and then asked him what his problem was.

The man explained to him that the students, from the nearby High School, were continuously ripping him off by driving away without paying. My dad asked him, "You can't tell the difference between a kid and a mother, who is trying to be honest with you"?

After daddy called to inform me all was well, and after the nerves settled, I did as I had learned to do, and forgave the man.

Within a week, I drove by that station to witness the windows all boarded up. After a month, the building was gone. Thereafter, every business that built on that corner, failed within 3 months.

That's called reciprocity. Now was God punishing the man? I don't know but if truly He was, was it truly punishment? It seemed to me the man was terribly stressed out. Perhaps, this was the best thing to happen to him.

I do know God's hand was in this. From the outside point of view, this might seem cruel punishment but I do wonder if it was for his own good, in the long run.

This sort of thing has happened in my life, time and time again. I have proven out the Lord when He says, "Vengeance is mine". It might seem that I've had victory over an enemy; I still wonder if perhaps, in tending to those things that would bring harm to me, God isn't also bringing a blessing into those other lives.

Learn more about this author, Judy Sims.
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