Betrayal

“Even the people who betray you are part of the plan” - Pastor Steven Furtick

Betrayal is deep. I say this because not only can it hurt us to our emotional core, but it can then transcend into our spiritual core. We have lost our trust in the human who hurt us. We have lost the innocence we once had. Fear and anger begin to set in. We get mad at the person and afraid of the situation. Then we get mad at God and afraid of the why. How could He allow this to happen? He was supposed to protect us. He was supposed to keep evil away. Betrayal can feel like it’s breaking your soul because your heart is broken. Barely breathing. No longer seeing. Our mind is not understanding. A lot is happening, but the question becomes where is God?

He is here. He is holding your hand. He is wishing he could hug you. He is wanting to wipe those tears. He loves you with an everlasting love. He is still your shepherd guiding you through life. No he didn’t look away and miss it. He was not just watching and letting it happen either. It needed to happen. I’m sorry to say that because it’s a statement that causes pain and more questions. Why would God allow pain in our lives? Because there is purpose in the pain. I am only talking in terms of betrayal by another. This is not about all the other causes of pain and suffering in the world. Those are separate cases of their own. But when someone hurts you purposely and it cuts deep, God wants you to see the real person you were dealing with.

They entered your life with love as a veil and that veil was removed. 

If anyone else would know about betrayal it would be Jesus. There’s no betrayal like taking money in exchange for offering your good friend to be humiliated and brutally murdered. Judas betrayed Jesus deeply. But the difference is Jesus knew he was going to. Yet he still made him a disciple. He could see through to the real heart of Judas, but he still mentored him and spent time with him. He still washed Judas’s feet along with the others in an amazing show of love knowing the next day his betrayal would happen. Why? Here are two reasons.

One. Knowing that the betrayal was coming Jesus knew there was purpose in the betrayal. A really huge purpose in the betrayal. If Judas had never betrayed Him, Jesus would never have died for us and saved us from our sins. We would not have the mercy and grace that is on us now. We are all still sinners but through Jesus we are saved. Not possible without the betrayal. 

Two. Before the betrayal Jesus showed love for Judas and even after the betrayal as well. He didn’t die on the cross and say, “for everyone except Judas; he knows what he did”. He went through so much torture for every one of us. Those who cared for him and those who hated him. That love is an example of how we are to treat our enemy after the fact. Sometimes that seems impossible right away. We are not as amazing as Jesus. However, we are expected to still extend love back to the person that betrayed us. 

It begins with forgiveness and ends with love. We were made for great things. To accomplish an amazing purpose for God. It’s hard to do that when we have Hate on the inside of us. Release the anger and the story it created. Receive the love that God gives in exchange and look forward to your new story. Because God is going to use that betrayal for good.