Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Let’s admit it. Resisting the urge to pay someone back for hurts they have caused, stretches most of us. It’s hard, especially in a culture that thrives on snap judgments and demands immediate retribution. Hard. But not impossible for Christ followers, because that’s what he calls us to do.
I was recently praying with a woman who years before had been sexually abused by an older man who called himself a Christian. He exploited her naivety and made her feel guilty for refusing his repeated advancements. As you can imagine, his indefensible conduct had a devastating effect on her faith.
Through the years, she has remained faithful to God and worked through much of the damage this man inflicted on her innocent soul. However, sometimes the pain comes roaring back, challenging her to revisit forgiveneness.
Interestingly, this woman is one of the kindest, sweetest persons I’ve ever met. She possesses a deep thirst for God and love for people. As I prayed for her, it became clear that although the enemy tried to use this man to stomp out her dignity and rob her identity as God’s child, he failed miserably. In fact, I believe the Lord amazingly turned the evil into good (Genesis 50:20).
She is who she is today because of the power of God’s redeeming love.
There is NOTHING anyone can do to us that can thwart the plan of our Creator. He tells us that avenging those who have done us wrong is a job relegated to him…not us. And it is not ours to decide what God’s “vengeance” looks like or when it occurs. But we can walk in the confidence and assurance that God loves justice and he will bring it about.
So let’s focus on our call to be more like Jesus. And leave the pay-back for all the wrongs done to us in his hands. His nail-scarred hands.