Leaving Room for God

You've probably heard the line, "I don't get mad, I get even."  While the word "even" suggests justice, the tenor of the quip is revenge.  Proper payment is not the desire so much as payback.  Far from justice, which works  to balance the scales, the notion is  self-serving, seeking to tip the scales in our own favor.  Worse yet, it is godless from start to finish.

It is godless on many levels, but what concerns me the most is that "getting even" assumes God's perrogative, claiming it for our own.  In our desire to exact paymentt, we turn our backs on justice as we put ourselves in the place of God, who alone is Judge.  If we were to truly seek justice, we would 

"not repay anyone evil for  evil" (Rom 12:17).  Instead, we would "leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, 'It is mine to avenge, I will repay,' says the Lord" (v. 19).

Our calling is to "love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us" (Matt 5:44).  It is God's job to bring justice, to call eveyone one into accountt.  How he does what to whom is not our business, that is for the Judge alone to decide.  

Can you do that?  Can you trust God to settle accounts and bring about justice in all things?  Can you release the hatred in your own heart, making room for God's love so that you can be free of the evil someone else committed against you?  Jus' Askn.