Seek God When Wronged

Proverbs 20:22: "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you."

Our tendency when we are wronged by others is to return the favor to them. If we perceive that someone has treated us unfairly, we want them to experience the same pain and embarrassment that we ourselves have had to endure from them. We might even allow a spirit of bitterness to feast upon our soul to the point that we would wish evil for them. If we look deeply enough, we may find the reprehensible bitterness and resentment of our hearts towards those who have hurt us.

No matter what has been done to us, we must remember that God is the ultimate Vindicator. He is the one who will bring deliverance to us for the wrongs perpetrated against us. Rather than harboring resentment and hatred for those who hurt us, we need to pray for them, "so that (we) may be sons of God the Father in Heaven" (Matthew 5:44). Our prayers should be saturated with pleadings of supernatural involvement in our lives and the lives of those who have hurt us, for we know that God desires all of us to experience the power of healing and deliverance that comes through intimacy with Him.

What I am not saying is that we are to condone the evil behavior perpetrated against us; in fact, we may need to distance ourselves from those who would continue to abuse their relationship with us . . . and unfortunately this "distancing" may have to be long term or even permanent. Still, we are able to pray for them, asking the Lord to bring deliverance.

The hope that we have through the power of the Holy Spirit is the ability to overcome any painful experience that we have incurred from others; and in turn we are able to transform that pain not only into triumph in our own lives, but opportunity of ministry to others as well.

Be encouraged through God's Word, for it tells us that if we wait on the Lord, He will deliver us from the painful encounters of life.