BY Argie Simonis
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, said the Lord.
Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Rom. 12:19-21
Paul here quotes from Deuteronomy:
"To me belongs vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come on them make haste." Deut. 32:35
God's word is telling us here that we should allow the Lord to exercise His wrath on those who wrong us instead of trying to make it happen ourselves. The Lord will fight for us because He takes personally what happens to His saints, just as He spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus:
"And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecute you me?
And he said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute: it is hard for you to kick against the pricks." Acts 9:4-5
When we leave vengeance to the Lord, He will deal with those who have hurt and wronged us much more effectively than us trying to do it ourselves.
Do you know that it is humanly impossible to implement this? This is where the supernatural power of God's faith that we talked about yesterday comes in and empowers us.
We need to let God be God in our lives:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding."
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths." Prov. 3:5-6
Letting God defend us is a matter of faith. If there was no God that is just and brings people to repentance, then turning the other cheek would be the worst thing we could do:
"But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;" Μatt. 5:44
The Lord loves all people and it is in His will for everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth:
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2Peter. 3:9
Be sure that the Lord who loves people and hates sin, brings conviction even to those who wrong us:
"For whom the LORD loves Ηe corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights." Prov. 3:12
So since there is a God who has promised that vengeance is His and will bring justice, taking matters into our own hands shows a lack of faith and trust in God and His integrity.
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