Vengence Is Mine!

You have heard it said that "revenge is a dish best served cold". Who wouldn't agree with that? How many times have you been wronged? Betrayal, lies, being unappreciated, abandonment, bullying, abuse- are just a few of the ways we can be hurt.

People can be cruel and hateful sometimes and the resulting feeling is powerlessness, helplessness and dread. What better way to regain our sense of control and power than to fantasize about taking revenge! The mere thought of getting back at the person who hurt us fills our bodies with emotions of strength, control and power. It relieves our sadness and pain temporarily and we have a moment of relief, a reprieve from the hurt for a bit. Although it's quite normal for us as humans to want to take revenge, the Bible is pretty clear that it's not ours to take.

Leviticus 19:18 states: "You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."

Proverbs 24:29 says: "Say not: “I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”

But why? Why can't we seek revenge? If it feels right and the other person was cruel, why not? It only seems fair! They deserve it right? That's the problem, we don't know... We don't know if their motives were intentional to harm us. We cannot judge the heart. We don't always understand what would cause a person to do a certain thing, we don't know how they have been hurt. Only God can see the heart, only he has the ability to judge.

Hebrews 10:30 puts it like this: "For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me];

I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord.

And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people."

So what are we to do with all of these emotions, all of our pain, the deep sadness that sits in our hearts?

Trust.

We start with trusting what the Word says, that God will avenge us! The all-knowing, all-powerful, Great I am- sees your sadness, your pain, your heartache and He cares about it. He cares about your feelings.

It is difficult to do, but we need to begin with that truth. Accept where you're at and trust that God accepts you where you are at too. Tell Him your feelings, all of your feelings of revenge, then give them to Him and trust that He will help you heal.

Become willing to trust that He causes all things to work together for your good.(Romans 8:28). He knows precisely what needs to happen to bring justice about for you. We can let go and trust that His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than ours(Isaiah 55:9).

Today meditate on Isaiah 55, breath God in, exhale revenge out. Remember this quote from Dag Hammargkjold, " Like a bee, we distill poison from honey for our self defense- what happens to the bee if it uses it sting is well known."

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