Betrayed? Turn to God

Years ago I had a friend who betrayed me. John the Apostle, described himself six times as the disciple who Jesus loved. What John was saying was that he was Jesus’ best friend. The friend that betrayed me was my John, I loved him, and he was my best friend. Because of that when he broke the friendship it hurt, and it hurt a lot.

King Dav id wr ites about betrayal in Psalm 55:12-14, “For it is not an enemy who taunts me - then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me - then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.”

Later in verse 4 of this passage David writes, “My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking. Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape - far from this windstorm of hatred.”

That’s what we want to do, isn’t it, when we are hurt by a close friend. I couldn’t help but think about Forest Gump when Forest went for a run to get away from his trouble. Forest said while on his run across the country that, “When I got tired, I slept and when I got hungry I ate and when I needed to go, well, I went.” When we experience betrayal, we just want to run away and get away and never see anyone again and never trust anyone again so that we will never be hurt again.

Someone said, “Best friends make the worst enemies.” That’s truth. And whoever said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” lied. Psalm 55:20 says, “As for my companion, he betrayed his friends; he broke his promises. His words are as smooth as butter, but in his heart is war. His words are as soothing as lotion, but underneath are daggers!” Words matter and words hurt us. These people say things about us, and they are not only NOT for us, but they are also in fact against us and they are malicious so what do we do?

We find the answer in verse 1, “Give ear to my prayer O God, …” We find the answer in verse 22, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” We find the answer in verse 16, “But I will call on God and the Lord will rescue me.” We find the answer in verse 22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” And finally verse 23b, “But I will trust in you.”

As we turn to and trust in the Lord in these challenging times, God gets us. Betrayal is not anything new to Him so let Him sustain you in your season of betrayal.

He told me to tell you that.