When Betrayal Threatens to Shatter Your Confidence
I quickly clicked the home button on my phone making the text message disappear. A lump formed in my throat as I tried to hold back the tears. The ache gripped my heart tightly. How did I end up at the doors of betrayal once again?
If you are at all like me, you have been at those very same doors more than once in your life. Reaching into the lives of others gets messy because we are reaching into a fallen world where betrayal is possible, and often, common.
Reaching into the lives of others gets messy because we are reaching into a fallen world where betrayal is possible, and often, common. Share on XAnd now the Lord speaks—the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength. He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:5-6
And each time the ache is fresh,
the confusion is equal,
and the rejection is loud.
Whether the betrayal is at the hands of someone deep inside our inner circle, or from a co-worker we may have just recently met, it is real. The devil wants nothing more than to use the betrayal to make us forget the truth of who we are.
He wants us believing his lies, using someone else’s story as a tool to steal the goodness of our own story.
That day, as I experienced the betrayal, I felt my thoughts pulling me into the downward cycle of self-blame, unworthiness, and bitterness.
I wanted to hide away, hardening my heart to relationship.
I craved a sense of safety, and the enemy beckoned for me to hide my goodness from the world.
He beckoned me to hide my light.
In that moment it was tempting. Hiding the good in me away forever in order to protect it from all future attacks, seemed my safest act.
But I’d walked that road before and recognized the lie. In Matthew 5:17 we read,
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Truth declares hiding as contrary to His desires for us. If I choose to live contrary to the way in which God has called me, I will only feel a greater sense of unworthiness and bitterness in my soul.
People will continue to come into our lives, each with their own story. Some will bring light and the mixing together of ours and theirs will be beautiful!
However, some will bring darkness.
When that time comes, I pray we keep our eyes on the One who is the author of our story. The One who is truly safe. He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories, but He will pour immeasurably more beauty into them.
He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories, but He will pour immeasurable beauty into them #mystory Share on XFriends, your story is beautiful. It is filled with the light of Christ and with it you can shine that beauty onto those caught within darkness. With His light, betrayal cannot hide, and with its exposure the power of the enemy is cancelled.
With His light,betrayal cannot hide,and with its exposure the power of the enemy is cancelled #betrayal #letyourlightshine #mystory #hope Share on XYour beautiful story doesn’t just live on in spite of the darkness.
It rules over the darkness!
Heavenly Father, I come before You today on behalf of every sweet soul that has had their heart broken and their confidence shattered by the betrayal of another. When we get hurt, our first reaction is to arm ourselves with protection. That usually means putting a wall up and disconnecting from the world. But when we do that, we stop being who You designed us to be. We begin to let the brokenness of betrayal write our story rather than the goodness of You. Lord, I come boldly before you asking that you stop each one of us in our tracks when our reaction is to hide and take our light under cover. May You fill us each with Your warrior-like strength as we stare betrayal in the eyes and defeat it by keeping our goodness alive. May Your light continue to shine, canceling out any powers of the enemy. In Your precious and holy Name I pray. Amen
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I love this. I have been there and keeping my eyes focused on God set me free from hurt.
Thanks so much, Jenny! I am praising God that He set you free from that hurt! Hallelujah!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Yes ma’am! Let your light shine…so He shines! Love your prayer today. Equip me Lord.
Amen, Susan! He is equipping you for amazing things, my friend! Thank you for encouraging me and stopping by to visit! You always make my heart smile!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Great words, Jenny! I love when you describe, “Your story is filled with the light of Christ and with it you can shine that beauty onto those caught within darkness. With His light, betrayal cannot hide, and with its exposure the power of the enemy is cancelled.” Yes and amen!
Blessings,
Lisa Murray
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for stopping by with such encouraging words! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
I’ve been there countless times, and known this too well as a pastor’s wife. I’m thankful God is able to redeem the broken during these tough times.
Hi Samantha,
I have a super soft spot in my heart for pastor’s wives. You truly do understand betrayal in a unique way that the enemy could use to break apart every good thing you and your husband are working to do in your ministry! I am praising God for His redeeming power in your life! You have another prayer warrior, my friend!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Thank you, Lori! You’re truly a blessing.
Thank you, Samantha! Likewise, my friend!!!
Such words of truth and wisdom! I have been there too. I love your words that Satan wants us to believe the lies of someone’s story about us as a tool to steal the goodness of our own story. I am a people pleaser and when someone doesn’t like me, it’s easy to question my worth and wonder why. This is such an encouraging reminder to remember who we are in Christ.
Thank you, Valerie, for your encouraging and kind words. I am a recovering people pleaser, as well! The book that helped me turn the corner in that area was Joyce Meyer’s Approval Addiction. I highly recommend it! I am so thankful God used these words as a gentle reminder of just how wonderful you are!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Oh I love this Lori: “He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories, but He will pour immeasurably more beauty into them.” YES! I allowed too much darkness from my past cover the light within me for years and all I want to do now is let it shine!
Your words were so timely. I’ve been dealing with feelings of betrayal and rejection. Satan will try to stop us from shining our light, but we must continue shinning for God.
Oh, Carolyn, I am so sorry you are in a season of dealing with this. No matter how often it happens or how much we know it WILL happen, it still hurts the same. Please hold onto your beautiful light and keep writing your beautiful story! I am so thankful God used my words to encourage your heart!
Blessings,
Lori
Encouraging post Lori!
Thank you, Rosie!!
This is so pretty. Thank you for sharing. ((blessings))
Thank you very much!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Love how you said our stories all come together to make something beautiful Lori! Great post!
Hi Doris,
God is the most amazing artist and creates the most beautiful of things!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!!
Blessing and smiles,
Lori
This is so fantastic on so many levels. Pinning, tweeting, and sharing. Thank you for this. I really think you nailed it all…why we want to self-protect after a betrayal. I had some gut wrenchingly painful ones in the past few years, and it’s so true some folks bring darkness, despite our best efforts to shine light, but it’s also true that His Light exposes lies, and they have no power over us. Bless you! I just LOVE this!
Oh, Bonnie, I am so happy you enjoyed this and found truth! I am so thankful that God walked you through those painful times. And I am praising Him that the lies of the enemy have no power against you!! Thank you so much for visiting and for being such a blessing!!!
Blessings and smiles.
Lori
Great post, will pass on to those I know will benefit from your words! Thank you for sharing and for linking up with the OMHGWW! Have a wonderful weekend ahead!! xx
Hi Ashleigh,
Thank you for stopping by and thank you for sharing!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Oh, Lori! I was hit square in the face this past week with hateful words from someone who had betrayed me. No matter how much I have tried to ignore her, the enemy just uses her to taunt me and, as you said, make me want to crawl into a shell for protection. How much I needed your encouragement today, to keep being the light for others, no matter what that one mean person does! God bless you. He’s definitely using you to touch MY life! Keep on shining! 🙂
Hi Linda,
I am so very sorry you had to face betrayal and hurtful words this week. I wish this type of brokenness didn’t even exist in the world – but then again, I know we wouldn’t need Jesus if there wasn’t pain on earth. My friend, I am praying for you to keep shining your beautiful light. It is beautiful and you are doing such wonderful things all to point to God’s glory and in that you are holding tightly to the goodness of your story! I am so thankful God used my words to minister to your heart! Thank you for letting me know. That is such an encouragement to me!
Hugs,
Lori
I love it when you said, ” When that time comes, I pray we keep our eyes on the One who is the author of our story. The One who is truly safe. He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories, but He will pour immeasurably more beauty into them.” Amen, sister!
Hi Sarah,
Here’s to holding onto the goodness of our stories! I’m so thankful you enjoyed this and found truth! Thank you for stopping by!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
This is my favorite quote from this post, “With His light, betrayal cannot hide, and with its exposure the power of the enemy is cancelled.” Praise God for the victory! I was betrayed by my father, and the exposure of God’s light has definitely cancelled the power of the enemy.
Oh, sweet friend, I am so sorry you were betrayed by your father. Such ache you have had to endure. I want to give you a big hug and high five for holding onto Jesus and shining His light into that situation and in turn, knocking the enemy OUT!
Thank you so much for sharing a piece of your story with me. I am so thankful God used my words to remind you of the victory you have in Him!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
I tweeted this line: He will not only give us strength to hold onto the goodness of our stories,but He will pour immeasurably more… (@MaryHill16)
I love this. i also loved the line below it and tweeted it too: Friends, your story is beautiful. It is filled with the light of Christ and with it you can shine that beauty onto those caught within darkness.
Thank you for these truths today. They really encouraged me.
Hi Mary,
I am so thankful God used these words to encourage you! And thank you so much for tweeting these lines! I just found you on Twitter so I could follow you!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
This is my first visit here…loved what I found. Your prayer at the end is so powerful. The enemy would like nothing more than to use betrayal to get us to separate ourselves from the world that so desperately needs the light we have to shine. Praying I/we can hold onto Truth vs. lies of betrayal.
Blessings,
Bev
Oh, Bev, thank you so much for your kind words. I am so humbled that God would choose to work His amazing goodness through my writing. I will be praying for you to always hold onto the truth and the goodness of your story!!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
God ‘s grace is our road out of the swamp of betrayal. I love your metaphor of “light” — and we so need His shining greatness!
Hi Michelle,
Amen! His shining greatness is our beacon of hope!!! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Beautifully said. Thank you for sharing this touching post.
Hi Lori,
Thank you for the kind words and for stopping by! BTW – Love your name and how it’s spelled 🙂
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Beautiful words, Lori! God used your story of betrayal to teach us all that He will never betray us and darkness only comes from the enemy. Thank you for sharing this at Weekend Whispers and fro allowing God to speak through you today.
Hi Mary,
My heart always smiles when I see you have stopped by for a visit! Thank you so much for your encouragement! I am beyond humbled each time God chooses to speak through me – pure grace because I know that this scattered brain didn’t do it on its own! 😉
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Your words are such a blessing! Trying to battle back after betrayal is so very difficult, but as you said, we can’t hide ourselves; rather we need to carry on in the light and believe our Father is more than strong enough bear our burdens.
Hi Dara,
Amen! He is strong enough to bear our burdens! I am praying with you that we all remember that!! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Hi Lori, I think I can relate with this post. It hurts going through a betrayal and not easy swinging our arms open to new people. Thanks for the encouraging words you have shared here.
Blessings to you friend
Hi Ifeoma, You are right. It is not easy! I believe, though, that with God, we can still be His light here on earth while tuning in carefully to situations where He may be warning us to place a boundary. Thank you so much for stopping by! I treasure your presence and encouragement!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Thanks for sharing with us at #JoyHopeLive!