April 9
Deuteronomy 15-16
Psalm 43
Proverbs 10:25-27
Luke 8:40-56
Vengeance
“Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation; rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked… Send me Your light and Your faithful care, let them lead me.” Psalm 43:1, 3 NIV
When we feel that we have been wronged or misunderstood, it is our natural tendency to want to set things straight. We want everyone to know the truth. We want to be proven right. Sometimes that is possible. Unfortunately, often it doesn’t work out that way. Life is just messy. Our intentions are not always understood. Feelings are hurt. There is not always a good resolution. As a social worker I dealt with lots of messy situations. If there is one thing I learned, it is that there are two sides to every story. There are often more than two sides. People perceive things in different ways. If two people see the exact same event, they will give you different versions of what happened. We come to a situation from the perspective of where we have been. It is not possible to be completely objective and neutral. This is especially true when emotions get involved. Paul gives us good advice in Romans 12:19. “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (NIV) We are told instead to forgive. We are not told to forgive if someone asks for forgiveness or if they deserve forgiveness. We are just told to forgive. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 18:22 that we are to forgive seventy-seven times. This is not a specific number that we have to keep track of so that on the seventy-eighth time it is ok not to forgive. Rather Jesus is telling us that we are to forgive an unlimited number of times. Whenever someone wrongs us, we are to forgive them. And then we are to leave it in God’s hands to deal with them appropriately. This doesn’t mean that God will necessarily punish them in the way that we think they need to be punished. But that also means that He will not deal with us in the way that someone we have wronged may want us to be punished. By leaving it in God’s hands we are allowing Him to be God. We are submitting to Him with the knowledge that He really does know best, and He will deal with the situation in the best possible way for everyone. It is hard to let go of hurt and pain, but if we don’t, we are allowing bitterness and resentment to take root in our heart. God doesn’t expect us to do it on our own. He will give us the strength and the will to forgive. Ask Him to search your heart and reveal to you anyone you need to forgive. Then turn it over to Him.
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