| #84 "When It's All Said and Done" February 20, 2007 There are few things harder to bear than being betrayed by someone we trust. I know that we have all been betrayed at one time or another by someone close to us. A friend. A family member. A spouse. The hurt can be excruciating because that person was supposed to love us. That person was someone we thought that we could count on and that we felt safe with. We feel violated because we WERE violated. A trust was broken. A confidence was revealed. It is speculated that Psalm 55 was written by David after being betrayed by an intimate friend. To get the low down, you can read 2 Samuel 15, paying close attention to verse 31, where the betrayer is named. Passage Lookup: 2 Samuel 15. David's words give us a great picture. A picture of the raw emotion that we feel when we've been hurt. If you've ever been betrayed you know how David felt. There is also a great picture of what should happen when it's all said and done. Let's take a look..I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you can relate... David is slandered, oppressed, mistreated and hated. This situation causes him pain, fear, trembling and horror. Can you ever remember a time when emotion so overtook you that you literally felt your heart hurt? Do you remember shaking all over? His mind was jumbled and he couldn't get his thoughts straight. He says, "My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. My heart is in anguish. Fear and trembling beset me. Horror has overwhelmed me." These were no small, petty emotions. David was devastated. How about you? David was also angry. He prayed what is called an "imprecatory" prayer against his enemies. He prays for God to invoke evil on the betrayer. He is, in effect, calling down curses. These types of prayers are common in the Old Testament, but we have difficulty praying like this because of Jesus' words to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us...but let's be honest. Like David, haven't you ever wished ill will on YOUR betrayer? David did...he was angry and so are you. How many times have you said, "If I could just run away from all of this. If I could just get away from these people?" David wanted to cut and run too. He longed to escape. He wanted to fly away to the wilderness. To a shelter (Hebrew "miplat", means "a place of escape") from the storm raging around him. He was so broken because this betrayer was not just anyone. This one was close to him. He called him "my close friend". He said that if it was an enemy he could endure it. But not YOU!!!! This was a brother in the Lord. They used to enjoy sweet fellowship together in the house of God. Don't you know that even church folk can hurt you and cause some of the deepest wounds? You can see that David had emotions and they were pretty intense ones. If we didn't have emotions we could never feel the good ones...happiness, joy, elation, giddiness, love. We have emotions, but the key is to never let your emotions have you! Never let those emotions dictate your responses. I read somewhere that in our anger, we should not sin. God knows that we will be angry, hurt, upset and suffer intense feelings in intense circumstances. And it is exactly here that David pulls himself up by the boot straps and doesn't give in to those feelings. Gosh, I love David. He makes me understand that I can have every emotion there is and that it's okay. But then, this man after God's own heart points me to the way back. The way back is having confidence in the Lord. David says, "But I call to God and the Lord saves me." He says that he cries out all day, morning, noon and night. It is to God that he looks for all that he needs to get through this awful situation. He knows that in the face of the opposition he will be unharmed. "God, who is enthroned forever, will hear." God hears the prayers of His own and He also hears and knows the violence of the wicked. He knows what that person did to you. He knows what that person said about you. My brother or sister....God knows!! David speaks to you today out of his confidence in God. He is telling you in 2007 to, "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." You may feel like you're falling. Just "cast". Throw away your cares. Hurl them. That's what "cast" means. Peter tells us the same thing in the New Testament. He says, "Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you." It literally means that it concerns God for you. He is concerned. He cares. Let Him be concerned for you. The Holy Spirit of God gave David and Peter the same message to you today...Cast!! Go ahead..put your arms up in the air and visualize hurling your problems away to God. Cast, my friend, cast. Entrust your burden onto the Lord. He is your burden bearer. He's got you covered. He'll take care of it all. Because He promises to. A little over two thousand years ago, in a certain upper room, there was another betrayer and Someone who would be betrayed. Having His confidence in God, His Father, He cast His care and did the most amazing, unbelievable thing .... He washed the dirty feet of the one who would hand Him over to certain death. And a few short hours later He would call him "friend". So if you doubt that He knows...if you doubt that He cares..if you doubt that He can relate to what you're going through today...think again. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, sees you right now. He knows and He cares. He's so awesome!!! And this is the truth of the matter....when it's all said and done. Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. 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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tuesday's with Jesus #84
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