I had enemies. You hear about circles of influence? I had circles of enemies. It began with kids on my street, then bullies from other streets who rode up just to fight. And the children at daycare were given free reign by the drug-addled hippies responsible for us. (Those ladies considered rock-fights ‘good, clean fun.’) Add to that the bossy kids at school, and I was an angry, brooding child, plotting elaborate tales of vengeance like I was the Count of Monte Cristo.
Yet I could never forget these powerful words:
“Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but LEAVE ROOM FOR THE WRATH OF GOD. For it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay’” Romans 12:19.
We think our plans for revenge are good, but God’s are better! So many stories prove it! One is 1 Samuel 25. When rich Nabal insulted David and refused to feed his men, David planned to kill Nabal and all who worked for him. He would have done it, but Nabal’s wife heard what her husband had done, rounded up enough food to feed an army, and rode out to meet David. She apologized, David accepted her food, and he complimented her: “Your discernment is blessed and you are blessed” 1 Samuel 25:33. He knew this special woman had kept him from bloodshed.
When Abigail went home she found Nabal holding a “feast fit for a king” v.36. The next morning she told him everything. “Then he had a seizure and became paralyzed. About 10 days later, the Lord struck Nabal dead” v.37-38. Later David married Abigail.
See? God’s vengeance is better. He struck Nabal himself—and he struck with precision. Nabal’s men did not deserve to die—having supported David all along.
Stop. Take a deep breath. Get over your anger. LEAVE ROOM FOR THE WRATH OF GOD.
God, thank you for the amazing way you sometimes use your wrath to execute justice on those who deserve it. Make us more like you—make us FORGIVERS.
ΑΩ
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