Obeying God Through Restitution

By Faye B. Hughes

    My husband had been saved for a short period of time when a guest speaker spoke on the subject of restitution. The Gospel light shone into my husband’s heart illuminating some wrongs hidden there.

    Over a period of time, my husband had been stealing small items from the factory where he worked, carrying them out in the pockets of his overalls. This was not known to me. As the Holy Spirit dealt with him about making restitution, a real cloud of gloom settled on him. He would kneel in our living room all hours of the night, crying and praying. Satan was quick to point out that it would cost him his job if he confessed his wrongs. Satan also told him that no one else would hire him. Satan reminded him that he had a family for which he must provide, and that he might even have to go to jail.

    I knew my husband was greatly troubled, but I didn’t know what was wrong. Finally, I persuaded him to share with me what was troubling him. I advised him to obey God at any cost and told him, whatever the outcome, I would stand by him. We prayed for God to give grace and courage to make things right. We asked for a Scripture to stand on. God gave Isaiah 45:2:  “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.”

Seeing the Manager

    My husband made an appointment to see the plant manager, fully expecting to walk out of that meeting unemployed. He made the confession, asked for forgiveness and for the privilege of repayment.

    The manager had tears in his eyes when the confession was completed. He was a member of a formal church, but knew nothing about salvation.

    “What motivated you to come here since your theft was undetected?” he asked.

    That opened the door for my husband to tell him about getting saved and about the need he felt for making restitution.

    The manager said, “I wish that every man in this plant would find what you have found! If all the stealing was stopped, we could pay our men higher wages.”

    Together they made an estimation of the amount of loss and set up a repayment plan. My husband requested that he be allowed to pay back fourfold, but the manager would not accept it. I am sure my husband felt many pounds lighter when he went back to his job.

    A few months later, the manager sent for my husband to come to his office. He went with fear, thinking the manager had reconsidered and had decided to let him go now that the loss was paid off. Instead the manager greeted him warmly. He told him that they would need to put on a temporary third shift and needed an honest person to be the foreman. The manager gave my husband the job and a raise in pay. When the shift was no longer needed, my husband went back to his regular job and was able to keep the pay increase.

    Several years later, after many lay offs from lack of work, he took steadier employment elsewhere. The plant manager gave him an excellent job reference.

    It pays to obey God at any cost!