Betrayal

Betrayal.  The word is harsh, painful and final.  The names Judas and Benedict Arnold come to my mind, where they will forever live in infamy.  As frail human beings, we are subject to betrayal, and sadly the perpetrators are often those closest to us. Take the case of a husband who came home early from work to surprise his wife. As he waited in the kitchen, he heard his wife talking on the phone.  It was immediately obvious that she was talking to a man, one with whom she was romantically involved.  Each word of her desire and longing for this man, wounded him so severely that he didn’t even have the strength to confront her.  The betrayal attacked every fiber of his being, especially since he had had no indication of her unfaithfulness.

Did you experience that same deep, sickening feeling he did when you read that description?  This is a true story, but I'd like you to imagine that you are the one on the phone, and God is the one overhearing your unfaithful conversation.  If that doesn’t make you sick, I think you need to question your relationship with God. You might argue that you would never betray God, but I ask you, how many times have you uttered words of doubt concerning him?  Maybe He hasn’t answered a prayer the way you’d like, which led you to dabble in astrology,  or put faith in a book written by a “spiritual-sounding” author.  Uh oh,  beware, you’re venturing into “spiritually adulterous” territory.

God likens our personal relationship with him to a marriage, as he did his union with the nation of Israel.  In fact he had one of his prophets, Hosea, marry a harlot so he would know how God felt about his people’s infidelity.  God longs to fulfill every emotional need that we have, if we let him.  For this reason it is recorded this way. “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14.  We think of jealous as a negative word, but in God’s lingo, it’s all positive. He  wants to prove to us, that in Him we have everything, no need to look elsewhere.  Please allow him!  "As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you."  Isaiah 62:5