Present with God: In my Letting Go

Beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God… -Romans 12:19

Vengeance is one of those things that promises such deep satisfaction and rarely delivers. We think that if we could just right the wrong…tell that person off…show everyone what a hypocrite they are…then we would feel so much better. But vengeance never lives up to the relief it promises. More often than not, the bitterness takes over us and consumes our lives and we are left fuming over the situation long after the other person has completely moved on. Instead of finding freedom and resolution, we become slaves to the grudge.

Paul invites us to a radically different strategy for how to respond to wrongs we have suffered. He challenges us to see the path to vengeance as the fruitless and self-injuring cycle that it truly is. Instead, he encourages us to direct our attention and our energy to the God of ultimate justice and to put our trust in his ability to manage the equity of the universe.

Ultimately, our desire to see the wrongs done to us made right comes from a righteous place. Unresolved sin makes a mockery of the God of justice. We are right to feel the unfairness of it when we feel that we have been wronged and no restitution has been made.

However, it is an act of hubris and arrogance to assume that we understand the billion moving parts of the cosmos enough to restore justice to the universe. That is why Paul calls us to let go of that impulse and instead draw near, in trust, to God. We plead our case to God and trust he will be the righteous judge. We trust that God will hear our concern and, in his infinite wisdom and knowledge, will work his best in the situation.

By making ourselves mindfully aware of God’s presence in our grudges we can let go of our bitterness and find healing for ourselves. By trusting in God’s justice, we can avoid the cycle of vengeance that can so easily consume us. Letting go doesn’t excuse the actions of the person who wronged us. We can be confident that God’s justice will be more right and ultimately more decisive than any revenge we could enact. When we are present with God in our grudges we find a sweet release. We begin to realize that the relief we thought we would find in vengeance, we actually find by giving our case to God. Then we truly can let it go, confident in his ability to simultaneously right the wrong and heal our hurting heart.

Be Present with God

Make some time to be present with God. Invite him into the grudges that you still carry. Allow him to reveal to you that he is the God of justice. Be honest with him about your feelings of betrayal and your desire to seek revenge. Ask him to take your grudge and be the God of justice that he promises to be. Ask him to give you peace about the situation and a sense of confident trust in his ability to handle it. Thank him for the way that he has made you aware of his presence during this time.