Before the Love Comes

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! (Matthew 5:44)

If you’re going through a rough time, there’s a good chance other people are involved. There are probably a few names that, when mentioned by someone else even in passing, make your spirit quicken and your lips purse so you don’t say something regrettable. We all have a delicate path to walk to loving and praying for our enemies. They’ve hurt and offended and deceived us or someone we care about. Loving and praying for them is not what we want to hear or do.

This brings to mind King David’s prayer for God’s enemies in Psalm 83. He writes: “Do to them as you did to the Midianites . . . their decaying corpses fertilized the soil. . . . Scatter them like tumbleweed . . . chase them with your fierce storm; terrify them with your tempest” (83:9-10, 13, 15)! David didn’t hold back his feelings at all, at least not before he eventually moved into lament a few psalms later. He had to vent and confess his own vengeful thoughts before he could calm down and get back to the goodness of God and his grace. The beauty is that David didn’t focus his anger on the enemy, he released it to God’s listening ear—and he left the consequences to him. When we do the same, we begin to restore.

David’s relationship with God was so close that he felt safe to be honest in his struggle, and we can too. Sometimes, in order to get to the love and prayer part for our enemies, we have to blast off the anger and hurt and betrayal to the One who understands better than anyone. As we do, the forgiveness he has shown us can flow into our forgiveness toward them. And love wins.

Lord, thank you that I can be real with you. Thank you for being a safe place to release my true feelings and to know that you hear and care. Help me in my journey toward loving and praying for my enemies. Keep bringing the point home that your ways of dealing with troubling times carry eternal consequences, not only for me but for others as well. In Jesus’ great name, amen.