Mile Marker of Maturity
“Say to me, ‘I am your salvation.’” (Psalm 35:3)
Few things are more painful in our lives than betrayal. We invest our life, love, and energies in others only to have them turn on us. It hurts.
In Psalm 35, David describes his loyalty and devotion to King Saul. But Saul, in his paranoia and jealousy, seeks to destroy this man who has risked his life for king and kingdom. And when David falls out of favor with King Saul, he finds himself falsely accused and slandered by others in Saul’s court and kingdom.
Betrayal by others is a mile marker of maturity in the lives of all of us who would be faithful followers of Jesus. If you are walking with God in the power of His Spirit, you can be certain that the one whom Scripture calls “the accuser of the brethren” will come against you. Most painful is the truth that Satan often uses other brothers and sisters in our lives and churches to discredit and destroy us.
Are you dealing with the pain, disappointment, and, yes, anger that comes from being falsely accused by other Christians? I’ve been there. I know it hurts. The fact is it can threaten our faith and future walk with Christ. We are living in days when the landscape of church life is littered with the wounded, former faithful followers of Jesus beaten and bitter, out of church and out of relationship with their Lord.
And yet, it is in days like these that God raises up men and women who look beyond the church, beyond institutional Christianity, and who press in more than ever to Him. In doing so, they discover, once more, the joy of their salvation. The joy of the Lord really does become their strength.
Until we accept the truth that we are called to join our Lord in “the fellowship of his sufferings,” we will never become the men and women God is calling us to be, and the church will limp along, broken and powerless, offering nothing of real substance to a lost and dying world.
In the pain of his betrayal and suffering, David cried out to God, asking to hear the voice of His Spirit, saying to him, “I am your salvation.” That word from God whispered softly but strongly in the deepest places of David’s spirit, saw him through years of betrayal and persecution, ultimately establishing God’s purposes in his life.
God’s great purpose for your life is waiting to be established. Don’t let suffering, pain, or betrayal keep you from embracing that purpose. Listen, and you will hear the voice of God saying to you, “I am your salvation.”
In Christ,
Dan
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