Silas
Beloved of All
I have read the prayer you sent in, and I need to speak plainly with you. The hurt and sense of violation are real, but the words you have written are not shaped by the Spirit of Christ. When enemies puncture tires, steal, or do us harm, the enemy of our souls wants us to react in the flesh, calling down fire and demanding a payment we ourselves could never make. That is not the way of the Lord who redeemed us.
Think about what happens the moment we get a ding in a brand new car before we even get it home. The peace we thought we had evaporates instantly because our heart was tied to something that cannot last. In the same way, when someone wrongs us, our first reaction tests where our real treasure lies. We are called to put on the breastplate of righteousness and to let the gospel of peace guard our feet, even when the charge against us feels spurious or the loss is heavy. Vengeance does not bring peace; it just deepens the darkness.
I am reminded of a time when persistent car trouble seemed like nothing but a curse, yet it turned out to be God’s protection from a far worse snare. You may never see the full picture, but instead of cursing those who harmed you, can you begin to ask if God might be using even this to teach you dependence on Him? He is able to provide for the fuel when the tank reads empty; He does not need us to drain someone else’s tank by force.
Nehemiah faced relentless attacks while rebuilding the wall. His response was not to pray plagues on Sanballat and Tobiah. He set a watch, armed the workers, and prayed to the God of heaven. They built with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, but that sword was for defense, not for a personal crusade of exacting restitution. The moment you demand that your enemies be plagued a thousand billion times more than the Egyptians, you are trying to wield a sword that belongs to the Lord alone.
And consider the debt you are claiming. You demand full repayment in zillions, reaching to generations yet unborn. But what of the debt you and I owed? We were sold under sin, owing a price we could never pay, and Jesus Christ paid that debt in full. He settled our account with His own blood. If He has forgiven us that unpayable debt, how can we then seize our fellow servant by the throat and demand payment down to the last penny? The Scriptures do teach that restitution has a place under God’s law, but it is never carried out by the venom of occultic cursing. That whole approach belongs to the darkness that Egypt could feel, not to the kingdom of light.
You say this is because of righteousness and obedience, but self-appointed execution of wrath is not obedience. The Holy Spirit has been given to you as a deposit, an earnest seal guaranteeing your inheritance. That seal marks you as belonging to another. Let Him produce in you the fruit of a heart that forgives, that blesses when cursed, and that entrusts the matter to the Judge of all the earth. Release these people and their property into God’s hands. Pray instead that He would give you the grace to love your enemies and the wisdom to see the spiritual nature of this conflict. Then, with your hands free of that bitter load, you will be able to take up the true work He has for you, and you will find He is well able to restore what the locusts have eaten without your needing to fuel the engine with burning wrath.
Think about what happens the moment we get a ding in a brand new car before we even get it home. The peace we thought we had evaporates instantly because our heart was tied to something that cannot last. In the same way, when someone wrongs us, our first reaction tests where our real treasure lies. We are called to put on the breastplate of righteousness and to let the gospel of peace guard our feet, even when the charge against us feels spurious or the loss is heavy. Vengeance does not bring peace; it just deepens the darkness.
I am reminded of a time when persistent car trouble seemed like nothing but a curse, yet it turned out to be God’s protection from a far worse snare. You may never see the full picture, but instead of cursing those who harmed you, can you begin to ask if God might be using even this to teach you dependence on Him? He is able to provide for the fuel when the tank reads empty; He does not need us to drain someone else’s tank by force.
Nehemiah faced relentless attacks while rebuilding the wall. His response was not to pray plagues on Sanballat and Tobiah. He set a watch, armed the workers, and prayed to the God of heaven. They built with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, but that sword was for defense, not for a personal crusade of exacting restitution. The moment you demand that your enemies be plagued a thousand billion times more than the Egyptians, you are trying to wield a sword that belongs to the Lord alone.
And consider the debt you are claiming. You demand full repayment in zillions, reaching to generations yet unborn. But what of the debt you and I owed? We were sold under sin, owing a price we could never pay, and Jesus Christ paid that debt in full. He settled our account with His own blood. If He has forgiven us that unpayable debt, how can we then seize our fellow servant by the throat and demand payment down to the last penny? The Scriptures do teach that restitution has a place under God’s law, but it is never carried out by the venom of occultic cursing. That whole approach belongs to the darkness that Egypt could feel, not to the kingdom of light.
You say this is because of righteousness and obedience, but self-appointed execution of wrath is not obedience. The Holy Spirit has been given to you as a deposit, an earnest seal guaranteeing your inheritance. That seal marks you as belonging to another. Let Him produce in you the fruit of a heart that forgives, that blesses when cursed, and that entrusts the matter to the Judge of all the earth. Release these people and their property into God’s hands. Pray instead that He would give you the grace to love your enemies and the wisdom to see the spiritual nature of this conflict. Then, with your hands free of that bitter load, you will be able to take up the true work He has for you, and you will find He is well able to restore what the locusts have eaten without your needing to fuel the engine with burning wrath.
