Vengeance is Mine Says the Lord

There is a lot going on in the world today that can stir up such righteous anger. Hatred and division are pervasively plaguing our country and our world. This negative energy can trickle down into our lives. We have all dealt with personal hurts. We have all endured circumstances that cause us to feel angry, resentful, and defeated. We may have even been in situations in which someone hurt us so badly that we wanted to take revenge. Have you ever spent so much time in your head fantasizing about the acts of revenge you would perpetrate upon the person who caused you harm? If so, your anger is probably justified and certainly understandable, but I am going to say with absolute certainty that you must never exact revenge on anyone and you must release that anger. It is the very poison that is slowly killing you.

I love to turn to the scriptures to seek wisdom and comfort. There is an abundance of wisdom regarding anger, vengeance and forgiveness. In Deuteronomy 32:35 it says, “’Vengeance and payback are mine’, says the Lord.” So, what does that mean? Does it mean that we have an angry God who goes around wreaking havoc and pain upon people? No, of course it does not. What He does is impose righteous judgment upon those who deserve it. His heart is to discipline those who go astray so that they may be redeemed. If those who do wrong are truly remorseful, then He will forgive them.

What that means for us folks, is that we are to give our righteous anger to Him, treat people with kindness always, and forgive, even those who have caused us the most pain and the most harm. I understand how difficult this is, believe me, but it is necessary for our own well being. In Proverbs 25:21-22, we are taught, “If someone who hates you is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap fiery coals of shame on his head and Adonai (God) will reward you.”  Let me give you an example of this. A family member is going through a divorce. He has a son with his soon to be ex-wife. He happened to have the baby on his birthday and, although he has every reason to have righteous anger against the baby’s mother, he felt compassion and thought his mother should see her baby on his birthday. So, he called her and offered to pick her up so they could take the baby out together for his special day. They gave the baby a great birthday with both his parents and were able to table their anger, at least for one day. That folks is a shining example of heaping fiery coals of shame upon the head of one who caused pain.

Once we give our pain and anger to God and once we have resolved to forgo revenge and walk in kindness, we must then forgive. That is very difficult for a lot of people, including myself. Do not get me wrong; I am a very forgiving person if someone is truly remorseful and asks for my forgiveness. However, when someone inflicts pain upon me, upon someone I love or upon the innocent, and does not acknowledge the wrongdoing, then my righteous indignation flares and it takes a lot of effort for me to let it go. Without going into specifics, I went through a situation in which I walked around with such anger and resentment. My sense of justice kept the fires of anger burning within me. Over time, I realized that anger was poisoning me. It served no purpose. I realized that I was walking around suffering while the person who inflicted the pain was living her life, not knowing or caring whether I was in pain. I resolved to forgive her, not for her, but for myself.

If you are reading this and you are walking around in anger and unforgiveness, it is time to let it go. It is time to fill your heart with love, yes, even for those who hurt you, just as it says in Leviticus 19:18, “Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself.” I can speak with certainty on this. Once I finally let go of my anger towards the person who caused me such pain, I learned that anger was nothing but a prison and forgiveness was the key to freedom. God wants you to live in peace and joy, not anger and bitterness. Give it all to Him and free yourself. You have the keys. God bless.