Season 1 Eps 3 Let Go & Let God

[Dr. Shane]

Accepting the inevitability of pain is one of the most difficult things for us to accept.  We want the world to be fair.  When it isn't fair, we want justice.  If we can't get justice, we want closure.  It is simply difficult to accept that bad things happen to us and we should just let it go.  In this episode, the creators of The Chosen have Jesus teaching the children about how to live in an unfair world.  At minute marker 1:20 He says, "You want things to be fair.  When someone wrongs you, you want to right it?"  The boy He is speaking to nods his head in agreement.  He feels validated.  Jesus understands him.  Jesus then goes on to explain that vengeance belongs to God. The creators of The Chosen have Abigail answer when Jesus asks what the Law of Moses says about vengeance and justice.  This is another example of this TV series respecting women and giving them roles with influence. 

Jesus than asks the children to finish the verse from Deuteronomy 32:36.  "He will have compassion on them when their strength is gone."  My experience has been I only become willing to let go and let God when I get sick and tired of being sick and tired.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  In faith, I can turn my battles over to God without having to force a solution myself.

 

 

[Dr. Shane]

In the episode, while discussing God's vengeance with the children, the writers have Jesus make a comment that allowing God to take vengeance means that we can be different. I have long commented that when we allow God to settle the score with our enemies, it frees us to love them. However there is more to it than that. 

Vengeance is Lord's. Read that five or ten times and let it become a conviction in your heart. 

If vengeance belongs to God, what am I doing when I try to get vengeance? The simple answer is that I am trying to be God. When I try to get vengeance it is because I do not trust God to do it. It is because I think I can do it better than God. It places me in opposition to God. It puts me next to the devil.

I have had people hurt me. Even today there are people that work against me. I do good to them. I trust God will take care of whatever needs to be taken care of. I have lived long enough to see God's vengeance visited on some of the people that hurt me and I had nothing to do with it.

In the first post I mentioned the inevitability of pain. Many people let joy pass them by because they are too focused on avoiding pain. Acceptance that pain is going to happen brings peace.

Psychologists have labeled numerous cognitive distortions. These are distorted thoughts that cause us to have uncomfortable feelings and eventually act on those feelings. The fallacy of fairness is one of those cognitive distortions. The desire for vengeance comes from distorted thinking that the world should be fair. It isn't fair and it never will be until it is made new. We can accept that pain is going to happen. When it does happen, we roll with it and do not seek revenge. 

Vengeance is the Lord's. Let Him have it. Trust Him with it. Love your enemies. Forgive them. Experience peace.