God Knows the Whole Enchilada
Week 11 (May 17 – May 23, 2021)
He Repays on Your Behalf Part 2
LISTEN
Verses for Meditation
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.
– Psalm 139:21, 22 (NLT)
As we can see, David is still quite upset with those people who mean him no good. So upset that he actually would say that he hates them. In our angry language, “hates their guts!” If you’ve read the story of David’s life, you would remember that after he had done so much good to ensure certain victory for Saul, Saul himself tried to kill him. And as if that were not enough, he sent his men after David to torment him. David was constantly on the run from Saul and his mighty men.
Have you ever had someone torment you so much that you really wanted to hide from them? And when they rang your doorbell, you wanted to pretend as if you were not at home? Have you ever felt as if you really hated someone?
We’re sure that most of us can relate to this unhealthy feeling on some level.
Although you may feel a total dislike for someone, we want you to remember, once again, that God has commanded all of us to love one another – even those who have done wrong to us (ridiculously hard, we know). We believe that the only way you can learn to love those who are not nice to you is to decide to walk in true obedience to God’s Word and daily ask for His help. You can’t accomplish this great feat alone. It’s hard enough to love those who love us: we definitely need help to love those who are not always nice.
Again, we say that you must be wise and set up appropriate boundaries so that you can live healthy lives. But, you must leave payback to God – for Him to give justice as He sees fit – in His time and in His way. Most of the time, there is that feeling that God takes too long. We all must learn to trust that He knows what He’s doing.
Think About It
- Have your friends ever hurt you? How did that make you feel?
- Has someone hurt you that you knew didn’t have your best interest at heart?
- Do you tend to take matters into your own hands, or do you seek God and wise counsel?
- What wise decisions can you make today?
Praying for You
(Please personalize)
O Lord, teach our young people to hate the things that You hate: things like poor attitudes and behaviors, prideful hearts, disrespect, ingratitude, and so on. Help their hearts to be grieved when they see themselves or others walking in disobedience to Your Word. Teach our students to cling only to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Have a great week, young friend!
Blessings!
Sister Hope & Kristi
©2021 by Hope McCardy. All rights reserved.
Something to Remember this year: God Knows the Whole Enchilada!
Believing God (by Beth Moore)
God is who he says he is
I am who he says i am
he can do what he says he can do
i can do all things through christ
God’s word is alive and active in me