John C. Bain

Everyone of us has dealt with a betrayal in our career.  It may be the person that took the credit for your work, the peer that advances unethically, the leader who doesn’t follow through on commitments, or the individual that launched an all out attack on you, undermining everything you did.  If you haven’t experienced some level of betrayal while working, then you may be dealing with another challenge…never allowing yourself to be trusting or vulnerable.

During the course of my career, I have experienced different types and levels of betrayal.  Here are some things that God has taught me during these times.

1. Be careful not to misinterpret.  Many times what may seem like a betrayal may not be.  Always seek to understand first.  Acknowledge that what may seem like betrayal could actually be God’s hand moving on your behalf in the form of either protection or affirmation to make a change.
2. Acknowledge brokeness.  We ourselves are broken by sin.  We live in a broken world with broken people who think broken thoughts that take broken actions.  When we focus on the reality of our own sins, the sins of others become less dramatic.  This is what Jesus taught when he said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye’, when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?”
3. Forgive.  Choosing to forgive is a release.  It releases you from trying to pass judgement on the other person to allowing God to judge.  It releases you from bitterness.  Bitterness will destroy you and your potential.  I heard it said that bitterness is like you drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
4. Instead of asking, “Why me?”, ask “What now?”.  Use the situation as a catapult into a deeper relationship with God.  What does God want to do in your and through you as a result of this situation?  What now does God want to teach you?  I have found that these times of challenge open my eyes to more and more of God’s truths for my life.
5. Move forward boldly.  Just like when we are driving, we only need to look in the rear-view mirror periodically for perspective and to avoid danger.  If you spend all your time in the rear-view, you’re going to crash or miss the path God has for you.  Fix your eyes forward using this experience to grow closer towards the person that God wants you to be.  Take comfort in knowing that God is bigger than your betrayal, and that he can take what is a negative situation and use it for good.