Wednesday, September 4, 2013

When People Come Against You

 I Samuel 18:5-9 (KJV) Says, "And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and  he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day forward."

Saul became jealous of David because when they returned from war the women of the city gave David more credit for their success in the slaughter than they gave him. As the scripture tells us Saul pursued David from that point forward. Now Saul being king had a number of men, chariots, horses, and anything else he may need in order to pursue after, and capture David, but David was forced to run from him having very little in the way of weapons or men. There was something that David had  which Saul was lacking, and that something made all the difference in the world. David had Almighty God on his side, and he protected and kept him safe the entire time Saul pursued him allowing no harm to come to David.

It isn't a question of whether or not we will have people come against us in our lives, it's a matter of how many people, and how many times. They may come against us because of jealousy as Saul came against David, or it may be they're angry at us for speaking a truth they didn't want to hear. It could be that they are not happy with themselves, and so they feel the need to lash out at other people. It could be they come against us because they have allowed themselves to become bitter and we are a convenient target. Some people can read a status, on a social networking site, that has their name no where in it, and automatically think it applies to them. Now the only way one would come to that conclusion is if they knew they were guilty of the content of the status. Some people come against us out of pride refusing to admit when they are wrong, because admitting they are wrong warrants an apology, and they are not willing to apologize. There are a number of reasons that people come against us, and having all experienced it at some time or another in our lives, I'm sure you know the list could go on and on.

It is tempting in the flesh to respond to people who come against us with their negative comments, and rude statements or whatever ugly avenue it is they choose to take for whatever reason, but we should never allow ourselves to respond to them in a like manner because then what difference is there in our behavior and theirs? Saul was in pursuit of David in an attempt to kill him literally, yet when David had the opportunity to slay Saul he didn't take his life, he spared it.

One of the most common attacks people make against us in today's society is on our Christianity. The moment they decide they have a valid reason to spew hatred, and they can't think of anything to come against us with, it is all to common for them to go off topic and use personal attacks including ones on our Christianity. The irony is that most of them know absolutely nothing about our present lives or our situation, and yet they spew pure meanness as if they do. Obviously they have no idea how God frowns upon such personal attacks or it may be that God's opinion of their behavior never crosses their mind. The thing to remember is that as born again believers we can rest assured that God is always with us. He promises he will never leave nor forsake us, and other than ourselves, he is the only one who knows our hearts. When people come against you don't fall prey to their antics rise above it as a Christian, forgive them, pray for them, and love them anyway.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.

No comments:

Post a Comment