I shared in the sermon on Sunday about a circumstance in our business about being betrayed by a friend whom I had hired six years ago. Over the six years this “friend” started the same type of business, stealing away some of our customers and lying about what he was doing.
In the sermon I said that I often speak about how Jesus understands how we feel because He has lived in this life. But in this circumstance I believe that I actually understood not just that He understood my feelings of betrayal, but also for the first time in my life, I believe that I understood something of what Jesus felt. I could never understand what Jesus felt when it came to most things. I could never understand what it meant for Him who knew no sin to become sin for us. I could never understand what it was like to leave heaven and empty Himself to take on human likeness. But I have some clue of what He felt when one of His closest friends, someone He chose under the leading of the Holy Spirit, chose to betray Him into the hands of sinners. For eight months I have been troubled by this betrayal in my life. I have lost countless hours of sleep and countless hours of trying to restore customers. Last night was one of those nights. But something happened in the middle of the night. As I was pondering over the circumstance, something happened. The situation didn’t change but something did. Something in my heart. It wasn’t that God said any of the following or something similar. “Quit fretting over this circumstance.” “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.” Not even, “Do not let your heart be troubled.” What God said was quit battling this from a defense position, either practically or emotionally. Fight the fight on offense. There is no question that a considerable amount of the spiritual battle we are in is a fight from the defensive. The armor of God in Ephesians 6 speaks of standing firm and fighting off the enemy’s flaming arrows with the shield of faith. And yet, the calling of believers to “Go into all the world” is to take the offensive. Jesus came to take back territory from the enemy. Though there were times when it appeared that He was on the defensive, His ultimate goal was to win the war over evil. His final shout from the Cross was a shout of victory, “It has been finished!” Though the Cross looked like a battle from a defensive position, all along it was God’s taking the offensive position to conquer evil. Jesus said to me, “Fight this battle over betrayal by going on offense. Greater am I than he who is in the world. And by the way, I do understand what you are feeling.” Something happened in the night. I still sense it this morning. The fretting is gone and there is a peace in my heart that as Jesus had said, “My peace I give to you.” It was a gift, a gift of peace from the hand and heart of Jesus. And to top it off, part of the gift of peace was the strategy, the playbook if you will, of how to handle things going forward. The sweet peace of Jesus is a marvelous thing.
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Chuck Cooper
Pastor at Daybreak Community Church Archives
February 2025
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