“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.” Hebrews 3:1
“I am not your scapegoat! Stop being a victim and blaming me for your problems, and—for goodness sake— stop lying!!!”
Hurt, confusion and a whole lot of anger went into those thoughts. Words and feelings I couldn’t even speak became, “AAAGH!” Tears of bitter disappointment and grief streamed down my face. Grief for the misunderstanding and broken relationship that caused all this.
“Really?”
The word stopped me cold. “Oh no Lord! I am justified in my anger!”
Tears continued to run down my face as I tried to explain my right to be angry. “God I’m done! How can I be blamed for something I didn’t do?” But I couldn’t escape the truth the word ‘really’ represented—it intruded into my pity party, pierced through my heart, mind and spirit.
God—my Savior, Redeemer and, yes, my Scapegoat—had taken my lies, my sin upon Himself, when every word He’d ever spoken was absolute truth. As my scapegoat, He became a victim of hatred, violence and unspeakable pain. He was lied about and judged. But … then the grace of God.
Finally, my tears went from anger to tears of acceptance. Sometimes life is unfair and people will disappoint, blame and lie about you, but Jesus never will. Jesus is our Prince of peace and I’m learning to accept—if I want to live in His peace—I have to put away my anger and hurt. I must love above and beyond what I’m capable of doing on my own, and extend grace to others the way grace was extended to me.
“Really?”
What love and power that one word held.
Hurt and anger tries to flare up now and again and the loneliness for that person sometimes feels insurmountable, but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is my peace and comfort. The truth is, anger and hurt cannot reside where Jesus is.
“For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:3
By Eve Montano