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As we observed a few weeks back in Genesis 30, Laban epitomizes what a “harsh” taskmaster looks like. Now, in Genesis 31, we continue to see Laban’s self-focused, self-pleasing attitude as he pursued Jacob and his wives. Upon Laban catching up to Jacob, he responds to Laban: “These twenty years I have been with you… from my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night … you have changed my wages ten times.”

You have likely experienced something like this at your own job (and if you have not yet, you likely will at some point!): an authority figure says something that is untrue about you. Someone you work for says they will do something for you—so long as you fulfill the specific requirements—but they don’t “hold up their end of the bargain.” Or maybe you have a boss that just has a really rotten attitude all the time!

There is a specific former coworker of mine that comes to mind. Though not a manager, she was a natural “taskmaster” because she had seniority and tenure over me. Whenever something went wrong where we were both involved, she was the kind of person who would always say the problem is my fault—she was always in the right. As you would expect, this greatly annoyed and upset me; I felt slandered and unjustly accused, like justice was not properly meted out!

Yet I was reminded from God’s Word that God leaves me with a choice in these moments: either I can choose to get frustrated or upset with these people, or I can use these moments as another opportunity to trust in God. Pastor challenged us to consider, “Will I depend on God, even under harsh taskmasters?”

I know there are many of us from our church going on the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter trip, which means taking time away from our jobs. Whether you will return to work this yet later this week or next, I would challenge all of us to remember that God can use difficult people to draw us to Himself!