It is very easy to get sidetracked with payback. One can get consumed with getting even but the good news is as a Christian you don’t have to worry, as God will take care of it. Yes people will curse you in many different ways. Lets just say they are not wishing you well. We talked about Balak hiring Balaam to curse the Israelites. Numbers 23:20 “I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. 21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. 22 God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. 23 There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!” I shared this again because no matter if it is just an off the cuff curse where someone wishes misfortune on you or you are confronted with a real witchdoctors curse, you do not have to fear as God’s arm is stronger. 2 Chronicles 32:7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
The other day we talked about Balaam cursing the Israelites and the king was furious. Numbers 23:11 “Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!” Deuteronomy 23:5 “However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.” Nehemiah 13:1 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) Remember what God said to Abraham. Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Letting God take care of it is about trusting God at his word. When people curse you they are actually adding God’s blessing to your life. You must be following wholeheartedly for this to happen. Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.” Joel 3:1 “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland. 7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.”
David said in 2 Samuel 22:47 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! 48 He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, 49 who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. 50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. 51 “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.” Psalm 9:11 “Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. 12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.” Psalm 94:1 “The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth. 2 Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.” Revelation 19:1 “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Yes you may have been caused great pain just as Jabez had pain. 1 Chronicles 4:9 “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” Yes people may have hurt you with their words and actions but stand firm on the word of God. Romans 12:19 “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
As we prepare to cross the Jordon into the land of promise, know that God is the one who will repay just as he did when Deuteronomy 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. 4 For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. 5 However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.” Joshua 13:22 “In addition to those slain in battle, the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.”
Do not be afraid, as God will protect us. Ezra 8:21 “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”
