From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he
was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him.
“Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in
the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the
boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there
returned to Samaria.
Pretty violent story huh? Well the Old
Testament is full of violent stories which I am slowly finding out J Shortly after I read this passage I continued
on with my day & it was brought to my attention that I too was being
“jeered” at only behind my back. It was not anything major, but internally I
got very upset & frustrated. (The NKJV actually uses the word “mocked”
instead of “jeered”) I could feel my blood pressure rising although I managed
to give the appearance that it didn’t bother me. Truth is = I was fueling inside!! Why did this bother me so much? Why was I so
upset over this when I know people thrive on gossip & when I know the story
was misconstrued!
Have you ever experienced this? Has someone
ever made fun of you, or talked down to you, or have you ever had a
conversation with someone and you know the minute you walk away they are
talking about you?! I’m sure we all have or do experience something like this.
It just eats at you and you can’t shake the feeling.
Thankfully, the passage of Scripture that I
mentioned above is what came to my mind at that moment. “Ah-ha” - J Now it made sense. You see, when I read the story about 42 boys
being killed by bears for simply making fun of Elisha, I thought, “man, that’s
kind of harsh”, “poor boys”, but what I failed to do was look at it from the
other perspective. This story
demonstrates the lengths God will go to in order to protect those who love Him.
It displays His great power that can be utilized in the lives of His children.
So instead of letting myself say “poor boys”, I now say “Great God”. God
handled Elisha’s battle…even our smallest battles God can handle. Not only is He able, He WANTS too. Nowhere in the Bible does He say “You shall
fight your own battles and do the best you can and THEN I will step in and take
over”. Instead it says “THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU, YOU ONLY
NEED TO BE STILL” (Exodus 14:14).
So while I was sitting there absorbing the
words I just heard about what occurred behind my back, I re-read this passage
& everything clicked. I prayed and asked God to relieve these horrible
feelings of retaliation that I had. (In my mind I was already making up what I
was going to say when I saw these people). Within a couple of minutes the
intense feelings started to subside, and I realized that God was going to take
care of things for me. I realized that none of this even mattered. “Who cares?” I thought. “God knows the truth
& that’s all that really matters”. An amazing thing happened during those
few minutes. A true peace came over me, and at this very moment, I can laugh at
the situation. “How petty” “How petty”.
Another thing I realized was that the main
thing that was causing those bad feelings to rise up, was my pride. Yes, I said
it, Pride.
I didn’t want people to think
something bad about me, especially if it wasn’t true! I didn’t want people to
develop a false idea of who I am. This was really what was bothering me. It was
the root cause of all of my emotions. (Interestingly enough Pride has been something
I’ve been battling with anyway & praying about). Hmmm..maybe this was Gods
way of helping me overcome it. Either
way, it worked. Not completely of course
because I’m still human, but it helped me learn to take a step back, and let
God do what He does best: fight my battles for me & take care of my
enemies.
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to
help us and to fight our battles. (2 Chronicles 32:8)
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath,
for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the
Lord.
(Rom 12:19)
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
(Psalm 138:7)
Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away….
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away….
The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming
and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming
(Psalm 37: 1,2,13)
Psalm 37 is a great Psalm I encourage you
to read! It provides many verses about how God will care for those who are
saved & trust in Him & how He will take care of our enemies.
I hope you were encouraged by this blog.
God cares about even the smallest things in our lives & I encourage you to
keep a couple of these verses handy so you are prepared the next time your
pride or character is threatened. Remember, Don’t React....let God Act.
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