Guest Contributor: Altisha Burton, LMSW
4HH Member
The wrath of God has been a statement passed down through many generations, typically used as a scare tactic or warning to get a person, group, or congregation to turn away from their wicked ways and adhere to instructions reiterated in the Bible. And let’s be real, as it relates to being scared out of your mind – it worked. Check the track record: fallen angels doomed to eternity in hell, a flood that wiped out an entire population, wars, famine, plagues, cities destroyed, Jesus’s anger in the temple. And that is but a scratch of the surface of what has been promised to come.
That is what we must take pause on – what does that really mean?
It is easy, through repetition, to believe that the wrath will be directed to you – yes, YOU, child of God. But I truly believe that I am meant to inform you that it is not. It dawned on me during a repentance and worship session that God knows who we are, intricately. He knows our desire to serve Him, how much we love Him, and how we will struggle and fall short due to the flesh. Yet, when you lay all of that – all of who you are- at His feet, He redeems you.
And when you surrender yourself to His redemption, you begin to develop a knowing that God’s wrath is meant to protect His people, to protect you. So, worry not about those who persecute you, hurt you, mishandle you, and treat you with little regard. Focus not on those who betray, backstab, overlook, underestimate, and regard you with no consideration. I know it hurts, and it is easy to fall into a plot of your own vengeance. And if you are really close to that person, you start trying to brainstorm ways to save them from themselves.
But in times like these, when the world is at war and God’s people are under attack in more ways than one, I hope you are reminded of the story of Moses, the Israelites, and the Red Sea. I pray that you reflect on the outcome of Sodom and Gomorrah. I encourage you to study up on the destruction of Nineveh after the warning from Jonah. But most importantly, I advise you to restructure your gaze upon the Lord as He does what only He can do best.
Meditate on this:
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled…” – 2 Thessalonians 1:6–7
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled…” – 2 Thessalonians 1:6–7
God’s wrath is not towards you, but it will be for you. Rest in that.
