Betrayal comes to everyone in some form or another. If you just happen to be working through betrayal today, know that you are not alone in your pain. Even the best and greatest people have felt the sting of betrayal.
Jesus was betrayed by Judas and he was one of Jesus’ top disciples! He was the ministry treasurer! And, that greedy scrooge Judas sold Him out to His death for 30 shekels. It was a bad betrayal, but God ultimately worked it out for good.
In heaven, our Heavenly Father was betrayed by Lucifer. Lucifer, also known as Satan, was one of three archangels and had charge over a 1/3 of the entire heavenly host. When Lucifer tried to exalt himself above God, he was thrown out of heaven and then succeeded in taking all of his angels with him. That is a huge betrayal.
King David was betrayed by his own father-in-law. Saul became bitterly jealous of David and then tried to kill him. The good news is David had a promise from God that he would be the next king. And everything God said came to pass.
Joseph was betrayed by pretty much everybody. His brothers sold him as a slave, he was then betrayed by his master’s wife, and then he was forgotten in prison. Like David, Joseph had a word from God for his life, and that word happened just like God said.
Betrayal is a plan of the enemy to stop you from what God would have for you. It is a low blow. It is an emotional attack. It is an attempt to throw a chain of sorrow around you and keep you right where you are or to send you backwards. The hardest thing about this is you want to stop going forward. You no long feel like moving up in God's purposes. You want to wallow. You want to cry. You want to be a victim.
So, what do you do?
One of the biggest things I’ve learned about overcoming betrayal is that you have to have your identity in God before you have your identity in anyone else. Betrayal will come, but it carries a dual purpose and comes as the "sifter." It sifts wrong people out of your life, but it also sifts out your true heart identity. Who do you identify with more? Do you identify more with Jesus or do you identify with your friends, family, denomination or movement? If your identity is firmly in Christ, your heart will remain in Christ even when wounded. If your identity is in someone else, you will lose your identity and not overcome your season of sifting. You have to know who you are and whose you are or you will stumble at this point and fail to step into the promise of God for your life.
My prayer for you today: Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for those reading this today who are in the pain of a betrayal. I ask You to comfort them by Your Holy Spirit and to heal their hearts as they release and forgive everyone who has betrayed them. Give them specific words to their hearts today to help them ascend above it and to ascend in Your purposes for their lives. I ask You to work your amazing goodness and to create a powerful testimony from it. ~ Amen.
