“Vengeance Is Mine,” Says the Lord

Wednesday, September 2, was a beautiful late summer evening, and I was out for a bike ride. Suddenly I heard a vehicle engine revving behind me and saw out of the corner of my eye a van coming towards me. Then I saw the passenger leaning towards me and yelling angry words laced with profanity. By God’s grace, I was spared from running off the road and crashing to the ground. It is also only by the grace of God that I did not return a volley of angry words or an obscene gesture (but my thoughts at that moment were not loving and pure). In a rush of adrenaline and sinful anger, I accelerated trying to catch this vehicle, and then I heard it—a sudden release of air under pressure. The vehicle that had been used to do evil against me was suddenly stopped by a tire that was completely flat.

God is a God of justice. Sin has been punished on the cross of Jesus Christ and it will be dealt with either in this life or in eternity. God will deal with sin—the sin that we have done and the sin that has been done to us. Jesus said it this way, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known... And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:26-28). I pray that you and I will so trust and fear the perfect justice of God that we will not seek revenge but rather seek forgiveness for those who do evil against us.