When You've Been Wronged

My heart raced and my face flushed as I read her status update. I {Mandy} was rushed with emotion: anger, sadness, incredulity.

Why? Why would she post something like that? She had to have known I would see it. Surely she'd know I'd know she was talking about me, about our situtation. 

I felt betrayed. I felt defensive. I felt enraged.

Have you ever been there? Have you felt betrayed or wronged by a friend? Did you want to lash out? Defend yourself? 

I have. 

It stings. It hurts. 

It requires taking a step back and really thinking through our course of action (or non-action). It requires prayer and throwing ourselves at the feet of the Lord with humility. Often, when we've been hurt, especially when we feel we are in the right, we feel obligated to respond in some way to clear our names and defend our reputation. 

May I suggest that you don't do that? May I suggest that you, instead, go before the Lord and ask Him to reveal any areas where you may be in the wrong? May I offer that in those moments when everything in you screams out to be vindicated that you take a moment to focus on the truth in your situation?

And the truth of the situation mirrors 1 Samuel 8. When the Israelites demanded a king, Samuel was upset. His own sons were to lead the Israelites as he had done his whole life, but his sons were sinful. Samuel took his wounded feelings, anger, and troubled heart to the Lord:

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"But when they said 'give us a king to lead us,' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.' " (1 Samuel 8:7-9)

I love the clarity God offers. I can almost hear the hurt in God's own voice as He shares with Samuel that the Israelites have rejected God ever since leaving Egypt. He comforts Samuel that it isn't Samuel the people are rejecting, but it's God Himself. Samuel was acting on the directive of God and the people wanted no parts of it. The Israelites were acting out of the flesh...out of what they wanted and what seemed right to them. 

If you've been on the other side of a harsh barb or a "vague" yet pointed status, take a moment to take your feelings to the Lord. Listen to Him. Hear if you have anything that needs addressed or any apologies that need to be made, and then rest in His presence. Realize that when you are acting out of a Godly directive, and within integrity of the Lord, those who reject you aren't really rejecting you...they are rejecting God. 

Remember Jesus said:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." (John 15:18)