PSALMS 55: 12-13
If an enemy were insulting me I would endure it. If a foe were raising himself against me I could hide from him, but it is you.... my companion and my close friend.
I dont think anything hurts worse than the betrayal of a friend! THE JUDAS FACTOR. I think all of us face betrayal sometime in our lives. For some of us it happens as a child,when a close friend turns against you, or a lie destroyed your reputation. God understands betrayal and hurt yet in his sovereignty he will sometimes allow the pain of betrayal to come into our lives.
I have experienced the hurt of friends walking away, but don't feel sorry for me it was ultimately for my benefit. My need for affirmation and approval often had me elevating people to a place in my life that my discernment said otherwise.
Yes God allowed it. it was necessary even though extremely painful. The insecurities and need for approval would have never allowed me to be the leader that God intended for me to be. God knew that the wounds of abandonment that left me looking for acceptance and approval in the wrong people would never have been healed until I was totally relying on his love and acceptance
THE JUDAS FACTOR helped me move from gaining my confidence by what friends say about me to what God says about me.
Certainly I will always value the opinions and input of others, but I rely on what God says. There is great blessing in true friends and I will always desire to have them and make new ones. My confidence however is in the fact that I am a friend of God
NUFF SAID
WOW, PK! I SOOO needed to hear this... God has been teaching me these very truths in my own JUDAS FACTOR over the past several months- such a difficult, yet necessary process. THANK YOU for sharing this... I believe it is something a lot of people need to hear!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a comment you shared during a sermon one Saturday evening. "people don't determine yourself worth, you do. Your self worth comes from God." This saying has gotten me through a lot these past two years. Character assassination is a very real tool of the enemy, but hold on to what God says about you. You are worth much more in God's eyes. God's Son, Jesus, died for you. You can't put a price on that!!
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