Daily Devotional

SHIELDED FROM BETRAYAL AND FEAR

December 3

riend of God, did you ever have anyone lie to you? If that person was very close to you and loved by you, then you well remember the deep pain caused by that betrayal. It is very important to you to be able to rest quietly in the honesty and loving intentions of other persons. Here is where your Father comes into the picture. Your Heavenly Father has agreed from eternity that He will not and cannot lie under any circumstance. If you look up toward heaven and pray with your heart trusting in your Savior, you can be completely certain that no lie or deceit will return to you because of that prayer. How important to you is that? You can rest your very life in the hands of your Father who cannot lie. What peace and comfort this brings to you to be assured by that everlasting true thought! Now, consider this, you may well have been shattered by the lie or betrayal from someone close to you because your priorities in this relationship were out of order. What do I mean by this statement? The Bible speaks of Jesus in this way, “He did not put His trust in men because He knew what was in men.” (John 2:24) Even the Lord Jesus knew that He could be betrayed by even the closest friends (Peter, Judas). He did not invest His whole heart in other people, instead He loved them deeply. But, He did not give himself away to others. What does that mean to you? Some people are so dependent on others that they do not spread around their love and friendships, but rather, they focus all their expectations on one person. This is unhealthy. It is also idolatry in its purest form. It also puts pressure on that person to produce far more in the relationship than is humanly possible. Husbands sometimes worship their wives, and wives sometimes demand nearly all their affections and needs to be centered solely on their husbands. This is impossible for them to provide. Remember, your Heavenly Father can be crowded out by too much fleshly dependency in your life and not enough of your Father. By the way, the deep pain from this kind of betrayal can be healed. Ask your Father.

Prayer

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Father, I have been so needy and clingy to those to whom I am close. Help me to give them some breathing room. Help me to center my affections more powerfully on you Lord. I have been angry and blaming others for some of the hurt that I unknowingly brought on myself. I repent of this in the name of the Lord Jesus. I will release from bondage those from whom I have demanded so much. I pray for my priorities to come into order, in Jesus’ name, amen!