By Pastor Jeff

Proverbs 20:22 – “Do not say, ‘I’ll pay you back for this wrong!’ Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you.”

Revenge! It’s a bad thing, but let’s be honest we have all been there right? When we ourselves or someone close to us is wounded, slighted, or done wrong, if we aren’t careful the first thing that comes to us is rage and revenge. Why? Because we are human and that’s a normal feeling, but we as Christians have to push away this rage.

Revenge is common in our world today and the sad thing is often it comes without remorse or even a forethought. Revenge has awful consequences for everyone involved. It doesn’t take long to see there are a lot of hurting people in our world today. People who have been offended, wounded, wronged, betrayed, mistreated, abused, neglected, rejected, or oppressed. Maybe you are one of these I mentioned and you feel as if the only thing that would bring you gratification would be by getting revenge on those who hurt you.

You see that’s exactly what the enemy wants us to do! The enemy is pretty sly and he comes at us in the middle of our hurts causing us to ponder on our past events. Before long he leads us to believe that we have to take matters into our own hands.

Let me ask you a question – Are you ready to take revenge? Don’t do it! Wait on God! He will fight your battles for you. Remember, the battle is not yours, it belongs to God.

In 2 Chronicles when the enemies of God’s people came against them God stepped in and told them to pay attention, everyone in Judah, in Jerusalem, and you, too, King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says to you as well, “Stop being afraid, and stop being discouraged because of this vast army that has come against you, because the battle doesn’t belong to you, but to God.”

You see we have to understand that the battle doesn’t belong to us.  Yes, you may have been taken advantage of, but vengeance is mine says the Lord! We have to trust God knowing that He will work it out on our behalf for our good and for His glory.

I know sometimes we can’t see the hand of God working on our behalf, but I promise He is working for us! How do I know this? It’s simple – because we belong to Him, He loves us and He will fight our battles.

Psalm 37:8 says: Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret. It leads only to evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

We are all in a battle, but the battle belongs to God. He is Sovereign. He is in full control of everything in life and He sees and knows all things. Nothing happens in life without His knowledge. So, let’s trust Him today!