viewoutsidethepew

At work I have access to satellite radio and I usually listen to enLighten. A short phrase from a song opened the floodgate of sight.

I have been betrayed so many times over the years I cannot count. Actually, I probably could, but that would be neither healthy nor helpful to wallow in that.

The Betrayal of Christ from the Santa Croce Altarpiece (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anyone who knows the story of Jesus knows that despite Jesus’ love and promises some of the people in that band of followers turned against our Saviour, either for a moment like Peter, or permanently like Judas.

So my experiences do not stand as unique. Somehow I am not picked on especially, at least not more than Christ.

A betrayer becomes enemy, exercising power over me, which can hardly rate as news.

Tonight, however, a different vision of these people came to me. Though in human terms they won battles by aiding the  Destroyer who made them appear powerful, they operated from human weakness. They wanted to show off or use my corpse as a stepping stone to climb the ladder of influence when they did not have the gifts to do so on their own. Their motivation rested not in heavenly love, but love of power which they actually wanted more than anything, but which they actually lacked.

Betrayal identifies a powerless person using fake power to get fake authority to put up fake fronts of fake importance. When small people obsess about their smallness they do small things to get big results. They pave their wide road with the hatred and jealousy erupting from their fragility.

They remain my enemies, but my previous reactions were based on being intimidated by their “power”.

So I found it hard to pray for those so much more powerful than I who could destroy me as many times as they wanted. Through this new vision I discover I would be praying for those too weak to resist the deceptions of the devil, too frail to carry their cross, too battered to overcome their own pasts so they overcome others.

That changes everything in my weak and frail human brain. God bypassed my inferior attitude to go straight for the heart where my Superior lives.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you this: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44 God’s Word).