“They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; But sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.”
Psalm 106:13-18 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.106.13-18.KJV
Undeserved Mercies
When someone hurts you or, worse, hurts somebody that you love, revenge can seem appealing. After all…
They were mean.
They were selfish.
They talked behind your back.
They broke a vital promise.
They lied about you.
They criticized you.
They ignored you.
They did the unthinkable.
They walked away.
They deserve to be punished, right? To feel some of that same pain? They deserve a consequence that will not only help them learn, but will be just as severe as the inflicted wounds.
And yet—because God sees things differently, both His standards and tactics can be surprising. And that’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Thessaloniki, said:
“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT
Paul’s words sound a lot like Jesus’ words—to love your neighbor as yourself; to do to others what you’d like them to do to you. (See: Matthew 22:38-40)
God’s ways ...