One of our flesh’s favorite verses in the Bible comes from Exodus 21:24, which says, “eye for eye and tooth for tooth.” It goes on to say, “hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” When somebody hurts us, we long to see them held accountable and hurt back in equal fashion. That’s justice.

But so many times, we don’t want to wait for justice. We appoint ourselves as judge, jury, and punisher and want to take matters into our own hands. We say, “I’ll show them. I’ll pay them back.”

But, listen to the wisdom and instruction of Scripture. Proverbs 20:22 says, “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.”

Beloved, God hates wickedness, and one of the wicked things He hates is when people take retribution into their own hands. Yes, you may need to be avenged, but vengeance doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to God and to those government officials He established to punish wrongdoers. Therefore, we don’t take matters into our own hands. We wait on God.

And what do you when God’s vengeance doesn’t come at the pace or in the capacity you think it should? We cry out. We cry out to God to avenge us, and we cry out to government to make things right like the persistent widow Jesus described in Luke 18. It’s not that we don’t have recourse. It’s not that we don’t advocate for ourselves. It’s just that we don’t take matters of vengeance into our own hands. Wait on the Lord. He will deliver you.

Change begins in you!