Self-Defense Crash Course

Luke 21:14-15 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 

What happens when you position yourself for a fight?  You fight.  This is what happens so often in relationships and things escalate rather than resolve.  Rather than listening, we become focused on what we are going to say next.  We get all worked up defending ourselves to the point where peace can’t be achieved.  Or what about times when someone is attacking your character?  You feel robbed, cheated, and slandered.  You feel as though you must be ready at all times to defend yourself.

However, Jesus said not to worry about it.  How do you not worry about defending yourself?  Well, you hold on to the truth that He is your defender.  You hold on to the fact that He will give you the words when you need them.  Worry and anxiety about this comes from a place of insecurity. So our aim must be to gain a confidence in who we are, which will only come from drawing closer to Jesus.  Allow Him to speak truth to you about who you are.  Allow Him to give you the words you need to say.  Allow Him to close your mouth when you really feel like you need to defend.  This is the Jesus self-defense crash course: let ME handle it!

Okay Jesus… I will let YOU handle it today.

Celebrating another’s failure

2 Samuel 1:11-12  11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

Something we humans do that pretty much drives me crazy is celebrating other people’s failures.  We laugh when someone falls and snicker when someone blows it.  It makes us feel better, I guess.  We have something in us that wants to rejoice when that jerk gets what he had coming.  And I wonder if all that really happens in our hearts is a phenomenon is something I call “success by elimination.”  You know, that’s when your team wins the game because the other team doesn’t show up.

Are we that insecure, that desperate?  Do we have no successes of our own so that we must rejoice when someone else fails?  What is wrong with us?  It’s what I despise about political campaigns, too.  All the energy is spent on pointing out the flaws of the opponent.  Why doesn’t anyone focus their energy on their personal success anymore?  Seriously.

David had no such problem and no such insecurity.  He was the underdog, the guy on the run.  Saul was the big bad wolf – the king who constantly tried to kill David.  So where was David’s happy dance?  Why didn’t he throw a party when Saul died?  Because he didn’t have to.  He was secure in who he was.  He had victories of his own to focus on.  Not only that, he recognized the authority that was placed on Saul by God and chose to honor it.  He mourned with and for Israel, for they had lost their king.  God would soon promote him, but it wasn’t up to him to get that job done.  He didn’t have to slander the guy going out to look better.  He had a heart for God and God’s love poured out of him, despite the circumstances he had walked through.  God wants it to pour out of us, too.