“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath…”

Rom. 12: 19 AMPC

We live in a fallen and broken world.  Because of that, there are times when we will experience hurt and betrayal by others. Those who hurt us the most are the ones who are closest to us; family,  friends, and other followers of Christ. 

When those things happen, the natural tendency is to want revenge; to make them pay; to see justice done; and to have the wrong made right. If we are not careful we will find ourselves entertaining thoughts about how to get even. The evil one will readily provide an abundance of such thoughts. If we allow them to linger, a stronghold of anger, bitterness, or resentment will gain a foothold and begin to take root in our minds.  We cannot afford to embrace such thinking.

The best thing to do is to release that individual or situation into the hands of the Lord and “leave the way open for God’s wrath”.   Our fleshly nature would like to “assist the Lord” in bringing about His wrath.  But we must take our hands off of it so that He can deal with the situation on our behalf.  We must remember that the Lord gave a very strong warning to those who would “offend His little ones.” (Matthew 18:6).  He will deal with those situations far better than we can. 

We release them by forgiving them and then praying for them;  not asking the Lord to “smite them” but to reveal Himself to them, to change their heart and allow them to fully realize what they have done. If they refuse to repent, the Lord will deal with them according to what needs to be done.   We can rest assured that He will not allow the harm they have done to go unpunished (2 Tim. 4:14).  Every wrong will be made right either in this life or in eternity!   (Psalm 37:1-4).   When we do that, then we are free of the burden and can then receive and experience the Lord’s peace and joy.   

Rev. James W. Black