Daily Devotional - 8/10/10 (9/10/09)

Focus Letter - J



Pray for:
Five things I am grateful for that begin with the focus letter
Five people whose first and last name begin with the focus letter
A place that begins with the focus letter
A characteristic to grow in that begins with the focus letter


Dear Lord - Open my ears. I know You are always speaking to me but often I do not hear. I want to hear. Grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 10


"Why, O Lord, do You stand far off?  Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?  In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises...In his pride the wicked does not seek Him (God); In all his thoughts there is no room for God...  He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to hide the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.  His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.  He says to himself, 'God has forgotten; He covers His face and never sees.' ...But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; You consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless...You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more." (vs. 1, 2, 4, 9-11, 14, 17-18)

God sees trouble and grief. I am not alone. I will just commit myself to God. He will take care of me and be my defender. He is Lord.

God is not far off although sometimes it seems He is. Abusers and bullies surround us and I believe that there is a part in all of us that can be this way as well. The innocent and weak are taken advantage of. They are abused. It is a dog eat dog world. There are the abusers and the abused and if we do not respond to God properly, we will become one or the other.

Why do people abuse? They do it because they can. They think they will not be found out. They have forgotten God. In all of their thinking, their consuming thoughts of themselves and their desires, there is no room for God. (vs. 4 & 11)

And why does God allow such bad things to happen? Why does He not stop it? It is difficult to understand but what we live through and survive makes us stronger. We can comfort others with the comfort we have received. If we can forgive and deal properly with something, we can survive, and even flourish. Eventually, we will even be able to help others with those same issues. (II Cor 1: 3 - 7)

But bullies and those they bully are not that different. They are both weak. A bully does what he or she does due to a weakness in their character. They are not satisfied to live. A deep seated insecurity drives them to tear down others. There is no room for everyone to succeed in their world. They are weak. And the ones who are bullied are weak as well. For whatever reason, they have not developed the inner strength to set boundaries or to stand up for themselves.

There is a third type of person, however. There is the strong person. Few of these people exist naturally. Most of us are weak in and of ourselves. We fluctuate between the two ends of the spectrum - bullying and being bullied, sometimes doing both within the same day. The good news is that we do not have to stay this way. We can become strong. This is what God wants and what we need so that we are not caught in the schemes of the wicked. God does not want us to be bullied and He definitely does not want us to be a bully.

Many of us have experience with codependency which is a bully partnering with a weak person who enables the bullying to continue. Of course it is more complicated than this, but if we can become strong in Christ, we will be able to set boundaries. The victim commits himself to God (vs. 14). God sees and will take it into hand. The evil person is eventually found out, if not here on Earth, then at the least on the judgement day which will be worse.

How do we become strong? We put on the full armor of God so that we can finally stand in the day of evil. We need to do this daily and we also need to work out the issues in the meantime (Eph 6:10 -18). God does hear the desires of the afflicted. He knows if we are being abused. He knows those secret thoughts, hopes, and dreams that we dare not mention. He knows the tears we have cried in secret. He knows the times we have hidden in our rooms hoping to be left alone. He was there. He is here now. He encourages us and listens to our cries. He defends us in the end so that as the Psalmist writes, "man who is of the earth may terrify no more."


Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord,

We see pain and sorrow daily.  We see our friends pass away, often tragically.  We see and experience bullying.  Life does not always make sense and yet, we know that You are near.  You see our grief and our sadness.  We are not alone.  Help us to become truly strong.  Help all that we experience to not be wasted but to be used for Your glory someday.  Keep a bitter root from growing up in our hearts from the things we do not understand.  We do not want to be weak any longer.  We praise You.  We praise You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen


QFT

1. In what ways do I relate to the psalmist when he says. "Why, O Lord, do You stand far off?"  What makes me feel like God is not watching over me?

2.  Do I tend to be more of a bully or a victim?  Why?  How does this show my weakness?  What do I need to do to become truly strong?

3.  What have I survived through?  How did I overcome or how am I overcoming?  How will I be able to help others with this experience in the future?

4.  Am I putting on the full armor of God? How can I do this?  What parts of the armor are most important for me right now?  Why? (Ephesians 6: 10-18) 

5.  How can the knowledge of God seeing my pain help me to overcome and make it through any difficult times I am facing?  How can I remember this on a daily basis?