Betrayal has been around since Cain slay his brother Abel. I guess you don't expect your brother to kill you just because your crop was more fruitful but Cain put his pride before the love of his brother. Absalom felt betrayed by his father King David and set out to kill him only to be killed instead. It didn't work out to well for him as well.
Betrayal goes beyond offense because it involves that a trust has been broken and if we didn't care about the person it wouldn't really matter. Sometimes it involves an element of shock and surprise, sometimes we might see it coming and wonder why?
I have always said to be betrayed is worse then anything because of the trust issue and being betrayed by someone we trusted is a deep hurt. It always invokes a deep feeling of loss in the end.
For quite a while, I have dealt with forgiveness of a betrayal . There are days it is easy to forgive and days when I ask God to give me the love to forgive because my will was not up to the task. Or I will ask him to change my will. I do believe I have forgiven completely.
I have asked many times that the pain be taken away and a realization came upon me, an epiphany of sorts. Which is kind of cool since today is Epiphany. Maybe there is to be a residual of pain in order to remind me of the sting. But why would I want that, well I don't want that, but why should it remain? Pain would remind me and give me the ability to empathize with those betrayed and to never betray anyone and cause them even a sliver of the same pain.
What gave me great comfort recently is a revelation God showed me about betrayal and how to endure. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, was betrayed by someone he loved and trusted, and that that friend sold him out for 30 units of silver for that matter. But what is worse is that his friend, Lazarus, came to him and gave him the kiss of friendship. Since Jesus was fully human he felt all our pain and disappointment and in this case the betrayal of a friend. Knowing Christ had endured the very pain and still went on to die for his friend and all those who would betray him in the future, it gives me purpose for my experience and to love regardless.
