Betrayal

Unfortunately, betrayal is universal to the human experience and few escape it. The times I experienced betrayal left me in deep, deep pain. Betrayal hurts so badly because you can only be betrayed by someone you trust--it has to come from someone close to you. That is its very nature. A stranger can hurt us but a stranger cannot betray us.
I was remembering a time I felt betrayed and remembered how badly I hurt. Depression came knocking at my door. It made it hard to work because I was always thinking about the pain or the person(s) involved. Not only is there the incident of betrayal to deal with but also the loss of the relationship that was once valued. Sometimes the pain would seem overwhelming. That kind of pain produces hopelessness.
In the midst of my pain, however, it was as if Jesus whispered the antidote to the poison dart of betrayal into my heart. What I heard was, "Judas did the same to Me. I know exactly how you are feeling. The pain is horrific! You are not alone in what you are experiencing. I like to died over it. Judas was very close to Me and he did the same thing to Me. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world!"
What amazing grace flows forth from the Word of God. Jesus reminded me that I was not alone. Jesus reminded me that He knew exactly how I felt because He too had been victimized in the same way. This comfort from the Scriptures put life back in my heart. It wasn't through a verse or a passage--it was from the reality that Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve closest friends Whom He had participated in ministry with for three years. My experience paralleled His.
I began to see on a deeper level that Scripture was full of human interactions and situations that we too experience on a daily basis. Our answer can often be found waiting for us between the two covers of our Bible. As we find those parallels, such as betrayal, let us also find the answers in how we are to respond or not respond accordingly--we are not alone. Jesus experienced the same thing as well.
Blessings,
Father Scott +