And then many will fall
away and betray one another and hate one another. Matthew 24:10
But Jesus said to him,
“Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” Luke 22:48
Have you ever felt
betrayed by someone you loved? If you have not it's a pretty sure thing that
you will be evidentially.
The most painful form of
betrayal is to be betrayed by someone you loved, someone you shared intimate
secrets with, someone who knew you inside and out and then used that
information to betray you. Perhaps they gossiped about you and it got back to
you. Or perhaps they were jealous of you and said things that were false. Maybe
it was someone you were in a relationship with that was having an affair and
told the other person things that were just between the two of you. Whatever
form betrayal takes it's very painful to the person on the receiving end.
In studying betrayal in
the Word there are many men of God who were betrayed by someone they both loved
and trusted. Of course, Judas is the one that stands out the most. We all know
that Jesus chose Judas after praying all night. We read that they spent every
day together for three years, talking, eating together, praying and laughing
together.
Can you imagine how that
must have broken the Master's heart? Judas knew Jesus, he knew His mission, and
yet for a few coins he betrayed him.
But Jesus wasn't the only
one. We read in the Old Testament that his own son, Absalom, betrayed David.
Demas deserted Paul and also Alexander the coppersmith, of whom Paul said
" he has done me much harm."
I know that some of you
today are in emotional pain because of someone who has hurt or betrayed you. So
know this, Jesus is aware of your pain. He went through it and so He has
compassion for you, in a special way,
that only those who have been through the same thing can understand.
God has promised to seek
revenge against those who have harmed us in this hurtful way. When we have been
betrayed it's often easy to come up with some tangible way of getting back at
the other person. We think about all the things that we too, know about them.
We think of getting even. We will do this or that and "make them
pay."
However, we now live in
the Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom the rules are different and God expects us
to crucify the flesh and turn the other cheek. As we do so He has told us the
following;
“Do not repay anyone evil
for evil…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with
everyone. Do not take revenge…‘I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Romans
12:17-19
When we are feeling angry
about betrayal the very first thing we should do is pray for the person that
betrayed us. Now I know what you
are thinking, "Pray for them!!! You have got to be kidding me!" In
the natural the very last thing we want to do is pray for someone who hurt us
through betrayal. I can tell you though, that as God taught me to pray for
those who betrayed me, it made a marvelous change in ME.
Something about asking God to bless and forgive those who
hurt us seems to take our focus off of anger and into love. The more we do it,
the less the betrayal seems to hurt. We find that we have an attitude change
that makes the betrayal seem to fade away from our focus. We get the focus on
forgiveness and off of anger.
James 4:11 says –
“Brothers, do not slander one another.” As tempting as it is, don't run about
trying to tell your side of the story. The more you tell it; the more it
becomes a subject of gossip. I have learned to keep things to myself regarding
betrayal, as much as possible. You might simply want to say something, if
asked, like the following, "That is simply not true, it's a falsehood and
God is going to handle it and I don't care to discuss it."
Then leave it at the foot
of the cross, as hard as it is. It takes crucifying the flesh. We so want the
truth to be known. Yet I have found the more you discuss the problem, the
longer it lingers. It's best to just "let it go" The bible says;
Proverbs 15:1 – “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up
anger.”
In order to quit living
the worldly, crazy and dysfunction lives we had before Christ we simply have to
do things His way. It is not easy, but He gives us the GRACE to do for us, what
we cannot do for ourselves.
In the old days many of us
went around manipulating situations and returning evil for evil. Some of us
were very good at it. It is a spirit of witchcraft. It is a spirit of
manipulation that must be cast out and cast down. Some may refer to it as a
"Jezebel" spirit. You can call it what you want, but I only know that
if you constantly want to control and manipulate every situation that you don't
like, you need deliverance from that spirit. I know that God has delivered me
from that very same spirit, and it feels great to be free of it, and doing
things God's way and not Cathie's way.
It's interesting how when
God delivers us from certain things we thing can discern them so easily in
others. It's like, "Been there and done that." Sometimes I will counsel with someone
regarding his or her own family members. They may say something like,
"Pray that God will take someone out of my son's life that is destroying
him." Well, I have to look at the motivation, from a Pastor's standpoint.
Is this woman really destroying the son, or is the mom just a wee bit jealous,
as she no longer has the son's attention? Since only God knows the truth, I
simply pray for God's will to be done in the situation so that all parties
involved come to know Jesus as Lord of their lives. When that happen everything
works out for the best.
Sometimes we try and
manipulate God with our prayers. When our prayers aren't answered in the way
that we want, we get mad at God. God, though, sees things from a Kingdom
viewpoint. He knows what's best and does what's best in each and every
situation we encounter.
Romans 12:14, 16 – “Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Live in harmony with one
another.” As hard as it is we have to get to a point of forgiveness towards
someone who betrayed us in a painful way. We don't have to go around them, because
now we know that cannot be trusted. They may repent and then they
"earn" trust. But it doesn't happen overnight.
In the meantime the only
answer is to not act upon our feelings of revenge. Instead we react in a
Spiritual way, not the way the World reacts. In doing so we enter another whole
dimension of Spiritual power that helps us, and others who observe us, enter
into God's peace. In Philippians 4:7 we read about that peace;
"Then you will experience God's
peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your
hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Father, Help us today to
get over the memories and pain involved with having been betrayed by someone we
loved and we thought loved us. Thank you for keeping us in perfect peace,
regardless of circumstances beyond our control. We turn the hurt and pain over to you, cleanse our hearts
and renew our spirits. In Your Name, the Name above all names we pray. Amen and
Amen.