A Thought to Ponder This Morning
Before choosing the twelve Apostles, Jesus spent the night praying, presumably about whom to choose as the twelve apostles. Yet He still chose Judas, the one who would betray him and who would also steal from the ministry.
I have so many questions about this. Did Jesus know Judas would betray him? Did God choose Judas because he needed a betrayer? Was Judas’ purpose to betray Jesus?
Have you ever prayed about something, was sure you heard from God, took a gigantic leap of faith, and then you found yourself betrayed, hurt, in trouble? You are left wondering did I hear from God? Why would God lead me astray? Why didn’t God stop me? Did I hear from God or was it my presumption that brought me to this point?
I wish I had an answer for you. I can only tell you, Jesus prayed, heard from the Father perfectly, did what the Father said and yet still chose a lemon. But that is not the end of the story. That lemon, that betrayer was the catalyst that launched Jesus into His destiny, as Savior of the world. The betrayal was necessary.
Have you been betrayed? Have you prayed, heard from God, obeyed, and things didn’t turn out like they should? Take courage. Allow the hurt to propel you into your destiny. God has not forgotten about you. Was this God’s plan from the beginning? I don’t know. I just know he can use it for your good and his glory. I don’t know if this is God’s Plan A or Plan B for your life. I just know all plans lead to His faithfulness, His goodness, His Promises. All I know is God can redeem your situation whether you heard Him correctly or not.
Be encouraged my friends. Your Judas is not the end of your story. He/She is the catalyst for your ultimate victory.
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”
Luke 6:12-16 NIV