September 4, 2013

Bible Study: Proverbs 24: 17-18--No Gloating Allowed

Ok so admit it! We all have lived long enough to experience the pain of someone hurting us intentionally. It really bites when it happens to you. You'd think that people would see your heart and know that you mean well for them but nope, that's definitely not the case. People have some sick and twisted reasons for why they'd want to hurt others. However, we all know hurt people hurt people.

After experiencing the hurt, one of the scriptures that comes to many of our minds is the famous Romans 12: 19. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mind, I will repay, says the Lord." We vehemently claim vengeance on the other person and sometimes, we actually look forward to seeing the vengeance happen.

There was one situation where some people decided to talk ill of me and make life a little unbearable for me. They were bullies. It made my stomach sick...literally. I wasn't good at standing up for myself so I could feel myself shrink whenever these people came around. I didn't necessarily pray for vengeance but I didn't want to see them do well because they had hurt me so badly. Well, God gave me a front row seat to the vengeance and to be honest, I could've done without seeing it. I felt soooo horrible for the people that did me wrong but I knew it was a direct reflection of how they treated me.



Too often we want to see the vengeance of our enemies. We want the satisfaction and pleasure of knowing justice was served. Be careful with that. Proverbs 24: 17-18 highlights the point that we are not to gloat when we see bad situations happening to our enemies. Our hearts should not be glad when our enemies fall. God isn't pleased. If He sees that you find pleasure in the vengeance, He will stop punishing the enemy. It's a two edge sword. You want justice to be served but you shouldn't like the fact that it had to happen. How does this apply to you?

1. The love of your life broke your heart and left you for someone else. Your heart is broken. They made all kinds of promises to be there for you but when someone cuter, richer, more popular, etc. came along, they completely dissed you. A couple months down the line, you hear that there are problems in the relationship. The heart is deceitfully wicked so knowing that kind of news could prompt your heart to rejoice. Check your heart. God is not pleased. Remove that evil motive from your heart.

2. The job you faithfully gave 10 years of your life to, decides to terminate you abruptly. You feel cheated, hurt, confused and scared. Don't pray ill against the company. Don't pray for bankruptcy. Ask God to deal with it and move on. If you need to speak your peace, do it (be angry and sin not) and move on. God will deal with that employer. When He does, do not gloat. I'd even say pray for their salvation.

This isn't a feel-good post. Trust me, I know. I also know that I don't want to miss out on any instruction that God may give. If He says watch the heart and the motives, do that.
I hope this speaks to you. Don't forget this verse the next time someone does you wrong. Don't return evil for evil. Let God handle it and be at peace.

4 comments:

  1. powerful stuff... keep up the good work "who can find"

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    1. Oh Goodness!! Jonathan Grant!!! Thank you for your support! That means a lot coming from a deep brother like you!!! Thank you so much fam!! :)

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  2. Good stuff! I was talking about this with someone recently! Love your posts!

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    1. Thanks so much, Rebecca! Glad it resonated with you :)

      Btw, I mistakingly posted this fb link instead of today's link entitled "hi, hater!" if you want to check it out, here's the link:

      http://www.dreamsomethingup.blogspot.com/2013/09/christian-living-hi-hater.html

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