Have you ever been betrayed? It might be one of the most painful things that a person ever experiences. If you are in a position of leadership, unfortunately, being betrayed is very much a part of your story. If you are in a place of authority, betrayal is normally the result of somebody being controlled by a spirit of envy. Leaders who betray those under their authority are usually controlled by spirit of insecurity. Regardless of whether you’re in a leadership role or not, betrayal always involves the demonic, which takes advantage of a broken place in the one who betrays. The Enemy’s assignment is always the same; kill, steal, and destroy, but in the midst of being betrayed, if we can trust in the predetermined plan of God for our lives, then we are freed from the poison of bitterness and are able from Christ to love the broken souls who are trying to determine their own destinies through their acts of betrayal.
God never initiates or approves of evil acts, but even when there are clouds and thick darkness, He reigns. He folds everything, including betrayal and its pain, into advancing His purposes for our lives. If we understand this, then it will free us to be able to lay our lives down in lovesick service for those that we know are capable of betraying us because we know that loving them is worth the risk. It is worth the risk because Christlike love may heal the broken places of mistrust in their lives from which betrayal comes. We can’t lose in loving them because even if they betray us, their betrayal will only propel us forward in Christ.
Jesus knew what Judas was capable of, and yet he let him carry the moneybox (offering him a chance to choose and be changed if he would only make the right choice), knowing that Judas was stealing from it. He loved him to the end, according to John 12, and washed his feet just like the other disciples. Could that have been one last effort to so reveal the true nature of God’s love for him in hopes of repentance and healing? In the end, Judas betrayed him, and in the end, God used the betrayal to position Jesus to fulfill His destiny in God. Everything that God uses to work together for our good becomes a gift from God even though it was originally sent from The enemy whose intentions were to destroy us.