Betrayed

"If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend..."
Psalm 55:12-13 (NIV)

At times in life we find ourselves betrayed by a friend. I have often had someone in my office telling me a sad story of how their wife or husband left them suddenly for another person.

Or it is an employee who was let go from their position because a fellow worker told lies to the boss about them.

They trusted the spouse or fellow employee and then they were betrayed.

When you find yourself  in this position, you are filled with pain and sometimes even anger. Your world has collapsed and you discover that you are suspicious of anyone and everyone. Who can you turn to for comfort and encouragement?

A close friend with whom you have shared your secrets has turned around and told others details of your private life. So you withdraw into yourself and the loneliness is heavy on your heart.

Having been humiliated through a supposed companion or friend is the worst sort of betrayal possible. We have all had enemies seek to do us harm, that is why they are an enemy. We know they will strike at us so we are prepared for the attack.

But when you come home after work to a note saying your partner in life is gone, the shock causes you to collapse emotionally. Tears flow but no one is there to hold your hand or share the pain and humiliation. The silence haunts you.

Jesus found Himself in just such a situation. He had prepared the apostles for His departure, but when the soldiers came and arrested Him, they all forsook Him and fled. Only Judas Iscariot, the friend who betrayed Jesus, stayed to see the results of his action.

Our Lord had blessed Judas greatly during the three years he walked with the Master. He was the one who received the donations for the support of Jesus and the twelve apostles. On various occasions, he had secretly taken some of the money for himself because he was a thief. So Judas had been betraying the Lord's trust for years as a thief.

Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus was the final blow in the work of Judas. Jesus was brokenhearted at this act of betrayal. God has no pleasure in sinners committing spiritual suicide. This is why Jesus addressed Judas as "Friend" when Judas gave Him the kiss of betrayal.

If you have been betrayed by someone, it may take you some time to get over the grief, but going to Jesus in prayer you will find in Him One Who has the ability to take your broken heart and mend it. He clearly knows what you are experiencing because it happened to Him. Come to the Savior as He gently speaks peace to your heart.

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