Making Use of the Meanwhile

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." —Romans 12:18-19 (NIV 1984)

Such a commonly-quoted passage of Scripture, isn't it? Yes, yes, God will repay. Meanwhile, I...

You will, will you?

What will you do, if I may ask?

The answers to this question are all too typical. We all answer in essentially the same way, myself included. Here are some common responses, from my own experience (meaning, from my own stubborn head):

• "I will wait on God, of course. Duh! I mean, that's what the verse says to do! But while I'm waiting, I'll have to stay away from that person. I don't want to get hurt again, after all."
• "Oh, I'll wait. Yeah. But I'm still angry with him/her—righteous anger, you know? Anyway, he/she better watch out, just in case..."
• "I will...wait, I suppose. I'm sure an almighty God can do something much worse to him/her than I could ever think up. I'll wait for that outcome."
• "I? I will make sure God doesn't take too long with this revenging business! I'll even throw in a few stones of my own, just so He doesn't forget His mission here."

These are not, by any means, the only responses. But they are typical, and they certainly shed a steady light on the emotions that tend to govern our reaction to pain. When someone wrongs us, we feel raw. We feel offended, betrayed, afraid, rejected, defensive, angry, confused, and—above all—hurt. With all these emotions—and more—surging through our bodies, it is not surprising that we often lash out at the one who hurt us. We act or speak before we think.

Everything that I have just described is totally normal, totally human. But that doesn't excuse it.

So what do we do, then? After all, we still have to wait on God. There is still a "meanwhile." But how should we, as ambassadors of Christ in a dark, sinful, and painful world, use it?

Let's take a look at the verses that follow those previously quoted: "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.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:20-21, NIV 1984).

Oh, I get it! you say. If I just be nice, that is my revenge! Burning coals? I like the sound of that!

But that's not the point. Revenge is God's. God's alone. Our goal here is not "killing with kindness," as the old saying goes. It's service. It's love.

Why? Because that's what Christ did for us. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, NIV 1984).

Here is what we have to remember in all this: Our God is YHWH. He is good. He is just. He is love. And we? We are nothing. Yet He gave everything to purchase us with His own pure, holy blood. Our response—to Him, to our enemies, to our friends—should be love. Pure, unselfish love. As I John 4:19 reads, "We love because He first loved us" (NIV 1984). And He will fill us with that love. We have only to ask.

You see, the whole point is not revenge at all. We know that God will avenge. He promised to do so in this very passage of Scripture. But surely we would not wish that even the world's worst offenders would experience the wrath of the Almighty God. Surely our hope is that God will open their eyes to salvation and peace in Him! God will avenge, but, in the meantime, let's love. Let's love our offenders so much that they wonder what's up with all the backwards Christians in the world.

Abraham Lincoln once asked, "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" Perhaps that should be our perspective. Our purpose here on earth, after all, is to share the Gospel. What better way to do it than to look our enemies straight in the face and tell them—no, show them—"I love you."

Will they hurt us again? Maybe. Probably. But where is our confidence? In whom is our identity? As Christians, what have we to lose?