Have you noticed that a child can be hurt by someone or something and they won’t cry until they see mom? The child will run to mom’s arms and it’s there they cry and eventually tell mom why they are so upset. My children do this. I’ve seen other children do this. There’s safety in mom’s arms. I think it is a beautiful picture of how God wants us to respond when we are hurt. Run to Jesus and pour out our heart to Him.
King David demonstrates this many times in the Psalms. He endured betrayal by friends, family, and people who didn’t have a clue. When David was fleeing for his life because his son Absalom was leading a rebellion, a man named Shimei came out and cursed David and threw stones at him. When one of David’s generals asked permission to take off his head, David responded-leave Shimei alone, perhaps God has told him to curse me. (See 2 Samuel 16:5-14.) What an incredible response in such a difficult time! David protects himself from sinning by trusting God, and assuming that God’s plan is beyond his own understanding. Shimei was throwing stones at David because he had bad information. He was making unfair and incorrect judgments. Ever had someone throw stones at you? Maybe a family member or a friend? Or even someone like Shimei that was misinformed (doesn’t have a clue)? Words sting just as bad as stones don’t they?
The example of Christ sends the same message. Those who crucified Jesus did it with the intention of getting rid of Him. But God used their evil actions as His path to provide for the salvation of the whole world. God can use the hurtful behavior of others to grow us and it is God’s responsibility to judge NOT OURS. We can remove that obligation from ourselves. Whew… that’s a relief! After all, God makes for a great judge. He sees all and can judge rightly. He knows all. He can punish as needed. He is merciful and forgiving. We are shortsighted in our judgements. We don’t see the whole picture. We can be quick to judge on bad information. We can be unmerciful when we are offended.
It’s totally God’s will for us to live in victory. Even relational. We don’t have to live emotionally unstable and easily distraught. It’s inevitable that challenging situations and people come our way. We will have stones thrown at us. The good news is that God’s power and love is greater than them all. We can walk by faith and not by our feelings. What?!!! We CAN walk by faith and NOT by our feelings! Thank you, Jesus! Walking in our faith, we can be confident that God represents us and defends us. Um, does that sound as awesome to you as it does to me?
What a beautifully written post. And when we think about it how true that we should run to our Lord as the protector! I think of Jesus as walking alongside me during my trek and if we only personalized our relationship with him how much more real He would feel to us. Excellent post, blessings,