Rom. 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

I am blessed with an amazing family. My parents faithfully served the Lord through thick and thin while I was growing up. My brother, Kevin, is a pastor, and has served the Lord in that capacity for about eighteen years now. My sister, Melanie, is a great example of loving the unlovable, of meekness, and of sacrificial service to others. 

I am currently in the middle of a battle. It’s not flesh and blood fighting me, but the devil and my own flesh. There’s no need to get into the details of this situation, I’m hoping you understand. The bottom line is this: it’s unpleasant, and I’d like to take matters into my own hands and fix it. However, this is one of those times when it’s out of my hands. I cannot do anything to fix it. I can only leave it with my Father and do my best to obey His Word.

Recently, my brother called me to encourage me in this situation. He is very busy so I was thrilled to hear from him. He said something that I loved and I wanted to pass it along. 

He was a basketball player in high school. He loved the game, and still does. We had a basketball court, complete with lights for night games, in our backyard when we lived in Hot Springs. He told me the other day, after I said how I’d like to fix this situation, that the ref doesn’t see the cheap shot, but he always sees the retaliation. I didn’t know what he meant, so he explained.

He said that often when he was playing ball in high school, an opponent would give him a “cheap shot” – a foul – that the referee didn’t see. The player who received the cheap shot, would decide to give one back, to retaliate or get even, since the ref didn’t catch it. But here’s the rub: the referee would usually see the retaliation, and call the foul on the player who was trying to get even. My brother said of his own experience on the court, “By retaliating, and getting a foul, the guy who gave the cheap shot would win. But, if I let the cheap shot go, and stayed focused on the game, I wouldn’t get a foul and risk getting benched.” He went on to say, “When you want to retaliate, just remember, you might get the foul.”

I love the mental picture that Kevin gave me. I have thought about it over and over. I don’t want the foul, I don’t want to be the one who looks bad. I want to stay focused on the “game” – my calling as a wife and mother – and keep going forward.

Do you want to get even? Don’t do it. Don’t get the foul.