The way out of the wilderness of hurt.

“Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. You, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.  My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart”      (Psalm 7:9-10 NIV).

      It is one of the hardest things for any of us to do as we follow our Lord. Someone may hurt us, someone may maliciously spread lies about us or our character or someone may intentionally and with real evil seek to harm us with physical or legal damage. The pain that comes over the very core of our being runs deep. We struggle with our emotions dealing with discouragement, confusion, disbelief and searing distress.

  The torment deepens when the one doing evil to us is someone we have previously trusted as a friend or been in relationship with. We want to strike back, we want revenge and if we are truly honest … we would meter out a much deeper hurt on the one that has hurt us.

    David struggled with every emotion we have, Christ gave us new way to live in the Sermon on the Mount and Paul ties both together in his counsel in the Book of Romans. There is nothing simple or easy in the midst of the territory of hurt and revenge but there is a way out and it doesn't come from the natural thinking inside of us. The way out of the struggle of the wilderness of pain is in the trusting of the God who is just and delivers us from hate and revenge.  

   The way out of the wilderness of hurt is simple. It is God’s way … You give the hurt to God’s way on this day, on the day you hurt.  You release to Him the pain and the revenge, you forgive the offender by the power of the Word and you trust in Him as you journey through and out of the wilderness of hurt. The way out of the struggle of the wilderness of hurt and pain is the way to life. It is His way. The way out comes when we follow His pathway out of the wilderness.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21 NIV).

Suggested Reading Psalm 7 & Romans 12