Repaying Evil with Evil

"You're the one in the right, not me," he continued. "You've heaped good on me; I've dumped evil on you.. 1 Samuel 24:17 (The Message Bible)

I have been married for over 20 years. In that time my husband and I have “disagreed”. I’ve prayed to God to do something about “that man you gave me”. For him to see things my way and behave the way I want him too. Sure enough the Lord helps me in my situation but not in the way I would have done it. I thought, “Smite him God!”  But the Lord’s advice to me was for me to change my attitude. “What!? Me? But don’t you see how he is behaving? I’m not the one that needs to change, he needs to change.” I would argue with God. And if any of you has ever argued with God you know how futile that can be. God asks me to be kind, patient, and forgiving.  Can you believe at one point God even asked me to answer my husband with “Yes dear” each time he spoke to me, even when I was mad at him? Everyone say, “Nooooooo”.  Yet, I reluctantly obeyed and the blessing that came from it could only have come from God. I also learned a quick lesson. What is fair is not always right. Yes I “may” have been in the right but that is not the point, I still needed to do good.

Many persons in the Bible were right and more righteous than I but yet they were good, obedient, and submissive. David did absolutely nothing to King Saul yet King Saul continually pursued David to kill him. David had a few occasions when he could have killed Saul and stopped running from him yet he did not.  David left either revenge or redemption up to God. Eventually, God established David as King in place of Saul. If you are doing good and your enemy will not stop whatever evil against you, you are to continue doing well in the eyes of God. Submit yourself to the will of God and not to your own feelings. They will only get you in trouble and make evil triumph. Romans 12:21 says, “Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good”. This goes for your bosses, parents, spouses, coworkers, friends, everyone.  

There are many examples in the Bible of those who submitted to God’s will rather than there own even when they were being mistreated, such as David, Joseph, Daniel, and especially Jesus. They were wronged and yet continued to do good and God established them and made them great. 1 Peter 3:9 says, “Do not repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”  The choice is yours you can either wallow in your feelings and plot your own revenge and reap the consequences or obey God and reap the blessings.  Submit to God’s will today Shunammite Woman. 

Scripture Reading: http://www.biblestudytools.com/msg/1-samuel/24.html

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