Have you ever been betrayed by another person? How should we respond to betrayal? At some point in our life all of us will go through a time where we felt another person let us down. Maybe you have experienced a betrayal in your life that left scars that the Lord would like to heal. Scars in life may have happened long ago, but the pain of those scars can still be present. Therefore, it is so important to know the Lord loves you and wants to bring healing to your scars.
Samson was Betrayed by His Girlfriend
Samson trusted his girlfriend, but she was working to destroy him. Put yourself in Samson’s scandals; how you would have felt in those circumstances? How can the work of the Holy Spirit in our life help us to lean on God during such a storm in life?
Judges 16:19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. [1]
Jesus Experienced Betrayal
Even Jesus was not immune to betrayal. Judas, one of the twelve disciples, a friend whom He trusted with the group’s finances, turned Him in to be crucified. What is perhaps worse is that Judas accepted thirty pieces of silver in exchange for the life of his friend. (Ref. Mat. 26:14-16) He betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, yet He chose to bring the man into His inner fellowship. Jesus called Judas “friend” even after the kiss that would lead to His arrest.
Helpful Steps to Bring Healing After a Betrayal
Forgive: “When we carry around hurt and anger, it festers and grows into a spirit of bitterness and offense. Our wounds cause us to see every interaction through the lens of that pain. When we have offended and become bitter, we aren’t free to love life in the way we are created to live.
This is why there is great power in forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that the betrayal is okay. It doesn’t mean what the person did to you is okay. It sets you free from the weight of carrying around that offense. Once we forgive those who have betrayed us, we can begin to truly feel free from the bitterness we feel and the fear of future betrayals.”[2]
Pray and ask the Lord for emotional healing: Even after we have forgiven a person, we still need healing that only the Lord can do.
Prayer
Gracious Lord, You know me better than I know myself and I need Your healing touch on my life today. You know all about the emotional pain that I have been going through, and oh Lord, I need You to come into my heart and to bind up the brokenness within me. I feel that I have been battered and bruised emotionally and am almost gasping for breath, due to the pain that has been stabbing my heart.
Oh Lord, I come to You to heal my emotions, heal my wounded heart. Heal the anguish that is deep inside. Lord, flood every corner of my being with Your soothing balm and Your healing love, and root out all the negative emotions that are bubbling inside me, like a smoldering volcano. Release into the aching void within, Your love and Your peace, Your hope and Your gracious presence, and gently carry me as a kindly Shepherd would carry a frightened, little wounded lamb. Lord, I am trusting in You, because I know that You alone can be trusted. Amen [3]
To hear more on how to respond to betrayal, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/faith-makes-a-difference-samson
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Jdg 16:19–21). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] https://www.propelwomen.org/content/5-ways-to-heal-when-you-have-been-betrayed/gjeb8i
[3] https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/Prayers-for-Emotional-Healing