I quickly clicked the home button on my phone making the text message from a loved one disappear. A lump formed in my throat as I tried to hold back the tears. The ache gripped my heart tightly. How did I end up at the doors of betrayal once again?
If you are at all like me, you have been at those very same doors more than once in your life. Reaching into the lives of others gets messy because we are reaching into a fallen world where betrayal is possible, and often, common.
And now the Lord speaks—the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength.
He says:
You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:5-6)
Each time the ache is fresh, the confusion is equal, and the rejection is loud.
Whether the betrayal is at the hands of someone deep inside our inner circle, or from a co-worker we may have just recently met, it is real. The devil wants nothing more than to use the betrayal to make us forget the truth of who we are. He wants us believing his lies, using someone else’s story as a tool to steal the goodness of our own story.
That day, as I experienced the betrayal, I felt my thoughts pulling me into the downward cycle of self-blame, unworthiness, and bitterness. I wanted to hide away, hardening my heart to relationship. I craved a sense of safety, and the enemy beckoned for me to hide my goodness from the world. Satan beckoned me to hide my light, and in that moment, it was tempting. Hiding the good in me away forever in order to protect it from all future attacks seemed my safest act.
But I’d walked that road before and recognized the lie. In Matthew 5:17 we read,
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Truth declares hiding as contrary to His desires for us. If I choose to live contrary to the way in which God has called me, I will only feel a greater sense of unworthiness and bitterness in my soul. People will continue to come into our lives, each with their own story. Some will bring light and the mixing together of ours and theirs will be beautiful!
However, some will bring darkness.
When that time comes, I pray we keep our eyes on the One who is the author of our story. The One who is truly safe. He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories, but He will pour immeasurably more beauty into them.
Your story is beautiful. It is filled with the light of Christ and with it you can shine that beauty onto those caught within darkness. With His light, betrayal cannot hide, and with its exposure the power of the enemy is cancelled.It rules over the darkness!
Heavenly Father, I come before You today on behalf of every sweet soul that has had their heart broken and their confidence shattered by the betrayal of another. When we get hurt, our first reaction is to arm ourselves with protection. That usually means putting a wall up and disconnecting from the world. But when we do that, we stop being who You designed us to be.
We begin to let the brokenness of betrayal write our story rather than the goodness of You. Lord, I come boldly before you asking that you stop each one of us in our tracks when our reaction is to hide and take our light under cover. May You fill us each with Your warrior-like strength as we stare betrayal in the eyes and defeat it by keeping our goodness alive. May Your light continue to shine, canceling out any powers of the enemy.
In Your precious and holy Name I pray. Amen.
Save
I am an encourager at heart. There was a day not long ago when I prayed that the Lord would break my heart for what breaks His. My eyes were opened and my soul was stirred – sweet offerings of encouragement to others became my purpose. This is the focus of my blog, Searching for Moments. Visit my blog or follow my social media!
Thank you for this encouragement Lori!