Vengeance Belongs To The Lord
The Bible tells us that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Life has ups and downs, we go through mountains, valleys, plain land, and deserts, we go through different seasons in life. There are times of good health and times we face sicknesses, times we are happy and times that we grieve. There are storms of life that we face from time to time. Usually, such storms find us unprepared, and when they hit we are often thrown into turmoil. What we once knew as normal changes and we have to adjust and face whatever is coming in our way.
In life, we go through hurts and pain. We come across people who hurt and wound us to the core. During such times, we come to know the extent of the fallen human nature.
What do you do when someone hurts you so much? What do you do when someone abuses you verbally, emotionally, psychologically, sexually, financially, or physically? What do you do when you meet a person who is a master in reverse psychology who plays with your mind and throws you into a state of confusion? What if a person uses you and then throws you away like a worthless object? What if you meet a person who calls you stupid, who tells you that you are an embarrassment, who you spend time with but later tells you that they never loved you, a person who tells you that you are nothing? Do not forget that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
What if a person emotionally and verbally abuses you to the extent that you lose your sense of self? What if a person slanders and backbites you among their friends and relatives? What if you meet an arrogant pride-filled egotistical person who never admits when they are wrong and who rarely, if ever, apologizes? What if the abusive person lies and starts pretending to be a victim? What do you do when a person wounds you so much! During such times, may you remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
We live in a society where many people seem to be so self-entitled. It seems like there are people who think that they own other people. It seems like there are people who think that they can do and say whatever they want to do and say to another person and get away with it. We live in a society where pride and arrogance are usually mistaken for confidence. We live in a society where there are crafty deceptive people who cannot face the truth. We live in a society where people treat each other without any respect or dignity.
We live in a society where people have normalized sin.
It is a world where out of people’s mouths come out vile, disgusting, demeaning, condescending words. People spit poison out of their mouths. It is a hypocritical world where most people live double lives and are double-minded, where people’s words and actions do not match, where people say and do one thing yet their hearts are dark and full of evil thoughts. It seems love has grown cold and it is a man-eat-man society.
Most people are there in your life as long as they benefit from you in one way or the other, and when they discover you are no longer of benefit to them, they walk away. Such people will go spreading lies about you and spoiling your name among their friends and relatives and even among complete strangers. Most people want to preserve their image at all cost and they will do and say anything, no matter the cost, in order to preserve that external image of themselves. Such people will drag you down, lie, abuse you, demean you, degrade you, and treat you with neither respect nor dignity if that is what it takes for them to protect their image in the eyes of other people.
When you encounter such people, initially you may not even realize what they are doing. They are very crafty and use carefully calculated actions and words. They usually know exactly what they are doing. Such people play with your mind and throw you into confusion and may even label you insane when they have tried to damage you as much as possible. When you try to defend yourself or explain yourself they bombard you with more lies and more abuse. It becomes a cycle of you trying to defend and explain yourself and them abusing you and taking advantage of you. It seems like your pain and hurt give them a false sense of power and they feel in control and untouchable. Such people will threaten you and try to silence you completely, they thrive on your weakness and silence. When you come across such people, do not try to avenge yourself; vengeance belongs to the Lord.
People who do not know what love is, who do not know from Whom their value and identity come from, who feel rejected and seek external validation from other people, who are people-pleasers, who do not know who they are and Whose they are — such people are easy prey for the enemy.
When we are deeply hurt and wounded, it becomes very easy to grow bitter. That bitterness can grow into hostility and even breed within us a desire to avenge.
We feel justified with our desire to seek revenge, we think that those people who hurt us deserve to pay for what they did. We think that we have to make them suffer as much as they made us suffer. We start desiring to be at par, that is, to do to them as they did to us. We think that we have to make them apologize, we think that we have to let them know how much they hurt us, we think that we have to make them feel as much pain and hurt as we felt. During such times, may we never forget that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
“Repay no evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:17–21.
God is holy and His judgement is based on truth. The Bible tells us that God is a just Judge and He is angry with the wicked every day. Let us always remember that no evil will go unpunished.
The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their ways are His delight. Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. Proverbs 11:18–21.
People reap what they sow, whether they are aware of it or not. The principle of sowing and reaping should make us realize that what we do and say matters.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:7–10.
Let us not be worried about those who prosper or succeed in their evil plans and sinful schemes. God is in control. Let us leave everything to the Lord, He is just and He sees and knows everything we have gone through.
Do not fret because of evil doers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:1–6.
Blessings.
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Originally published at https://www.vickysforum.com on January 14, 2022.
