Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. (Proverbs 20:22 ESV)
Grudges and Hope
Bill Cosby had a stand-up routine in which he described a grudge he carried against Junior Barnes. One winter, Junior had hit Bill with a particularly nasty snowball. Bill did not have the opportunity to get even, so he squirrelled away an icy conglomeration of slush and ice in the back of his freezer. One summer day he surprised Junior by jumping out and hitting ole Junior with the ice-ball. Bill carried his grudge until that moment.
“Grudge” is another way of saying, “I want revenge.”
God promises that He will deliver us. That means that He will provide the assistance we need. It means that our grudge-bearing is unnecessary. Further, He exclaims that vengeance is HIS, not ours. (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30) God’s vengeance is “better” than ours. He has power, knowledge, timelessness, and understanding on His side. Also, the vengeance He offers is usually powdered with grace and mercy, which in a strange way allows us to not only have vengeance, but to LOVE our enemies. (Matthew 5:44)
Grudge-bearing is only fun in the way that dental work is fun. Or in the way that finding cockroaches in your coffee cup is fun. Or in the way that driving without a spare tire is fun.
It is not fun.
But God promises that He will take care of whatever has caused our grudge. Let Him do it. He is better at it than we are.
Take the hope God grants us.