Handling Hurt

Proverbs 24:17  "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:"
Proverbs 24:18  "Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him."

The natural reaction when we see an enemy fall or stumble is to laugh.  We enjoy seeing them taken in their own traps and snares.  The spiritual reaction that Jesus taught in the New Testament was that we should pray for our enemies.  When we are wronged, it is easy to get on a spiritual high horse and feel that we are vindicated when evil befalls the person that hurt us.  God would remind us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  He suffered agony, humiliation and separation from the Father to pay the wage for our sin, which was death on the cross at Calvary.  When we consider what God has done for us, how He loved us when we were all together unlovely, the least we can do is pray for those that have wronged us.  Ultimately we must remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord, its not in our authority to punish those that have treated us wrongly.  Leave it in the Lords hands and handle the hurt and pain in a manner that is pleasing to God.