A faithful worker could not keep the Sabbath and help his boss out too, but God could honor both.
Arman stood quietly at the flower shop counter, listening to his boss’s plea. “I have respected your wish to observe Sabbath all this time. Now I would hope you could respect my request to come to work this Saturday.”
As a refugee, he knew how difficult it was to find a job, how hard it was to keep it, and how unusual it was to have his Sabbaths off too. As a faithful Adventist, he had prayed fervently before sharing with the flower shop owner how important the Sabbath was to him. He was grateful that for the past year he had been able to observe the Sabbath each week.
But that morning his boss, a 40-year veteran in the business, had made a proposal. “It is Mother’s Day this coming Sunday and Election Day as well. We expect an overload of customers on Saturday. We will be extremely busy. I’m getting older and find it challenging to manage everything alone. I would appreciate it if you could help me this Saturday.” Arman respectfully explained he must hold firm to his conviction to prioritize God’s commandments. He really did not know how his boss would manage, but he rested on God’s promise to honor his decision to be faithful.
On Sabbath, his worship was mixed with concern for the amount of work he had left the old man. He knew he had made the right decision, but he still wasn’t comfortable.
He closed the Sabbath day with a prayer on his heart and headed for the flower shop, imagining what the place would be like at the end of a busy day. He knew his boss had decided to bring in family members to assist and Arman hoped the short-term help would be able to handle the business.
He paused, though, as he stepped into an orderly, fully stocked shop. Extra help were standing around; they said sales had been slow. Someone suggested discounting the flowers to move them faster in the last few hours of the day.
But customers began arriving. Business increased. The flowers sold without being discounted. From 7:00 in the evening, when Arman arrived after Sabbath, until 11:00 that night when the shop closed, he sold ten times the amount of flowers that had been sold all day.
God’s intervention continued too. All that holiday Sunday with a double reason folk wouldn’t be out shopping, business was brisk. The flower supply was just enough for the extra customers as God poured out His blessing on a refugee worker who had chosen to honor His Sabbath. Arman sold twice as much on Sunday as he had on Saturday night.
In all the years the flower shop had kept records, they’d not seen such a business pattern. But neither had Arman, in all the years he had known about the Sabbath, realized just how important his faithfulness is to God.