Every time I think I am out of stories to write, God opens my mind to something about which I have never written. While researching the word “doxology” for another column, the word “betrayal” popped (there’s that word again-unpublished story) into my sleepy mind as an idea for a story. I was not sure where that idea came from or where it would go so while I was on the internet, I looked up the original word “betray” which simply said “lie.” Betrayal is “an act of deliberate disobedience.”
Have you ever had someone lie to you, or about you? My husband lost his job once because someone told a lie about him. He came home almost in a state of shock. He was devastated; he could hardly believe the boss for whom he had such high regard actually believed the lie about him.
In the end, the liar was discovered and the owner of the company called and asked Joe to come in to talk with him. He apologized and told Joe he had fired the wrong person. He offered him some incentives to come back to work there. Since Joe had taken a job which required him to get up at 3 a.m., his former boss made him “an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
I know I have been “lied to,” but I don’t know of an episode where anyone has “told lies” about me. But my first thought of writing more about “betrayal” came from scripture in God’s “Holy Word.” The Bible has many stories about lies, betrayal, and the victims of betrayal. How many times was our Savior Jesus Christ betrayed? In the book of Luke chapter 22:3-5, we are told that Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord for money. Matthew 26:15 reads “thirty silver coins.”
In today’s world, he has been betrayed by many with the establishment of idols which goes against God’s Ten Commandments. The use of illegal drugs and excessive drinking has caused many people to turn from the Lord, and the church, and these things have become their idols.
Another act of betrayal in the Bible was when Simon Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus. The Lord had predicted this in Luke 22:34 and the results are revealed in Luke 22:54-62.
Perhaps the Lord brought “betrayal” to my mind because of the upcoming season. I haven’t been able to attend church since I fell in September. I missed the Christmas celebrations and I know I cannot make it to sunrise service anymore. But if it is God’s will, perhaps I can make it to the Easter service.
A lady called recently asking if I can speak to the senior group at her church in June. I told her my spirit is willing, but sometimes my body “betrays” me. I can no longer travel overnight for Christian Women’s Clubs, but hope to continue speaking locally. If any other group needs a speaker, please feel free to call me. Just know that things can happen and I may have to cancel at the last minute. But we also know that the Lord works in mysterious ways. This sweet lady said she enjoys my stories and often saves them. If for some reason, I am unable to attend their meeting she said she would just read my stories. I know if it is God’s plan, I will be there for that meeting, and others, where it is his will for me to speak!