Let’s Just Calm Down, Now

Let's Just Calm Down, Now

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

How do you respond when someone offends or wrongs you?

You’ve probably heard it in several movies,

“I’m going to get you if it’s the last thing I do!!”

We all like to get back at the person who wronged us. It’s born out of our sense of justice. Something unjust has been done to us and now it must be rectified. The wrong-doer must be punished.

Justice is good, but there is an order to how justice is to be delivered.

If someone breaks into your home while you are away and steals your valuables, you can’t just hunt the person down beat them up. You have the right to justice, but you don’t have the right to exact that justice yourself. Rather, you call the police, who arrest the thief, who is tried before a jury and sentenced by a judge. That judge’s sentence is carried out by correctional workers.

God’s justice has an order, too.

His order is to let Him take care of it. He often uses the authorities of this world. In fact, that is one of the primary reasons God establishes those authorities. Revenge, though, is not our job. It’s not our place.

This is good. It’s a better way.

Seeking revenge has a way of destroying the person seeking that revenge, sometimes even more than the person who is being sought. There’s no peace in revenge. There’s no love in revenge. There’s no justice in revenge.

So, God tells us to calm down, pray, and leave it up to Him. It’s not that you can’t seek justice through the proper channels. Again, God set those authorities over us. So, to use those authorities is to turn it over to God. In doing so, you get to let go. You can forgive and move on. You also learn to trust God more.

So, next time you are wronged, remember Proverbs 20:22 and take a breath. God will deliver. He always does, whether here on earth or on the Day of Judgment.

Heavenly Father,

Give me the self-control and wisdom to leave justice in Your perfectly just hands rather than trying to take revenge.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt