Fear of Betrayal

A few weeks ago I wrote about my fear of failure. It was the first topic in our FEAR series at church. This week we tackled my other big fear, fear of betrayal. Betrayal is such a harsh word. It makes me cringe. But I have to admit I often find myself afraid that I'm going to let someone else down (failure) or that someone else is going to hurt me and let me down (betrayal). I didn't really make the connection between the two until today.

You can't talk about betrayal without talking about forgiveness. I just read that chapter from The Shack about forgiveness. Earlier this week I had an great discussion with a friend about always being afraid someone will hurt you and deciding not to trust anyone. Conversation, book and sermon all closely related. Coincidence? I think not. This weekend I've had a chance to look back over the last several years and see how much I've grown. Two or three years ago I was convinced nothing good could come out of the pain I was dealing with after being betrayed. Now I find myself using it to help teach others about the power of love and forgiveness. That is the goodness of God's grace.

Sure there are still times when that fear of being betrayed comes closer to the surface. I don't have all the answers but I've learned so much and am still learning. God is so good and so loving. It sounds so simple and that is the greatness of it. I don't need to complicate matters. He heals and restores out of his abundant love. That is enough for me.