Friday, June 27, 2014

Tempted To Slam The Brakes

In order to protect this guy, I am going to call him "Frank" as I share with you this true story.

"Frank" was riding down the road when he noticed the green motorcycle in his rear view mirror.  The guy riding the green motorcycle had caused a lot of family problems for "Frank" and had made life miserable.  "Frank" was filled with anger as he reflected on the stresses he had endured lately, and he realized he had the ability to make the other guy pay for what he had done.  "Frank" saw that the green motorcycle was following his truck closely, and if he suddenly slammed on his truck's brakes, the green motorcycle guy would end up crashing and getting seriously hurt.  "Frank" thought for a moment about doing it.  After all, the green motorcycle guy had been a major pain that was tearing up his family.  But "Frank" was a Christian.  And he knew that was not right.  So "Frank" put the thought out of his head, chose not to hurt his enemy, pushed down on the accelerator, and left the green motorcycle guy behind.

My friend chose wisely.  I admire him for what he did.  That required tremendous restraint on his part.  And that was exactly what God wanted him to do.

See, Romans 12:19 tells us, "Do not take revenge my dear friends but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay' says The Lord".  That means we need to trust God to handle people who do us wrong rather than taking matters into our own hands.  Yes, we sure ought to speak up on our own behalf and protect ourselves.  No, we are not to be doormats for others.  But we are to stay out of the way and let God judge and deal with problem people.  That is His job.  Not ours.

People do us wrong at times.  Unfortunately, it happens.  Our job is to forgive them, with divine help from above.  Then we are to trust in God to handle the rest.  He is The One who settles the score when it is all said and done.

Revenge is not the answer.  When we take matters into our own hands, we are simply stooping to their low level and joining them in their filth.  Let's rise above that.  Let's forgive and move on.  And let's trust God to do His job as the Judge of all mankind.

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