Hurt People Hurt People – You’re Not Seeing Double!
We’ve all come across a nasty person in our lives who could be classified as an enemy. It seems as if this person is bound and determined to destroy our peace and joy.
Why don’t they just leave me alone?
Have you ever asked that question? The harassment can happen at work, online, at a store, or in our daily interactions with aggressive people.
Sometimes the harassment is downright frightening.
They Have Nothing Better To Do
I remember once I had gone on a conservative women’s Facebook website and wrote a positive comment about the excellent work they were doing.
Apparently, there are sharks circling on every website now looking to devour anyone who supports conservative, God-honoring values.
Shortly after I made the comment, I got a threatening message from someone I didn’t recognize. Turns out this “gentleman” had seen my comment and didn’t like it. He called me the most awful, four-letter name that crude people use to describe a woman they don’t like. I was horrified at the language and the other threatening words that he used. This person didn’t even disguise his avatar. This man (and people like him), in internet terms, is commonly called a “troll.” I can’t even imagine the mindset of someone who would purposely seek out a stranger and call them names like that. There must be a deep-rooted misery in this person to strike out like he did. Hurt people, hurt people. It’s a sick world indeed, in need of a Savior.
How Should We Deal With Belligerent People?
So how did I handle this online, very sad, person? At first, I had the immediate reaction of wondering if this attacker knows where I live. After blocking him, I then informed my husband and some friends about the whole incident. It’s a good idea to make people aware if you’ve received a threat of some kind.
After I calmed down a bit, I decided to pray for him that night. And I did pray that God would change His life around. Praying helped me feel a lot better.
I don’t know if this man ever turned to God. We can only hope. But, praying was an important step – even though this man had enough anger in his heart to threaten me with violence.
It’s Hard to Pray for Our Enemies
I know firsthand that it’s hard to pray for God to bless our enemies. We don’t pray for them to become rich or anything. We pray for them to learn of His saving grace. It takes practice and it pleases God. Why should we bother?
- The Bible tells us to pray for our enemies.
- We’re showing obedience to God.
- A prayer for our enemy can result in him/her turning to God.
Perspective is Everything
We may never know which of our enemies will have a changed life. But God wants us to pray regardless.
Not one of us is worthy. We all became enemies of God once sin entered the world. But, as Christians, we have the hope of eternal life. Before we became born again as His new creation, how were we any different than our own worst enemy? As painful as it is to think about, all of our sins (yours and mine) sent Jesus to the cross. All of us have access to His saving grace and that includes praying for the salvation of our enemies.
Remember Saul in the Bible, who later became Paul? Saul hated Christianity. He was an instrumental figure in trying to destroy the Church. And yet, he was prayed for by a devout Christian. Saul’s life dramatically changed thanks to God’s providence. What an amazing and inspiring encouragement Paul’s life story is to remind us to pray for our enemies.
I found a wonderful article that demonstrates this very well. Thank you in advance to a talented fellow Christian writer, Abby Kelly.
Who Prayed For Paul?
By Abby Kelly
The headlines ran red. If there were a secret first century parchment bearing news, prayers and encouragement, circulating the dispersed believers, surely it read, ” Steven, our beloved brother in the faith, perished at the hands of Saul and the religious leaders. He breathed his last yet full of the Spirit and testifying to the goodness of Jesus.”
Maybe, John picked up that parchment or maybe he wrote it, heart aching. What a loss for the early church! No doubt Christians across the known world knelt in their homes and small gatherings, praying fervently for Steven’s family, the progress of the Gospel, their own safety and Christ’s soon return. But who prayed for Saul?
The early church knew who was responsible for much of their terror, and God asked them to do the unbelievable. After Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, He approached one of His own, a man named Ananias, and told him to go to Saul and lay his hands on him: ” ‘Lord,’ Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.’ ” (Acts 9:13, 14)
I wonder about that as our own headlines run red. Every single day we learn of more Christians, more People of the Cross, losing their lives for the name of Jesus. And, I kneel. I kneel by my bed and pray with tears streaming down my face. My emotions boil, a hot alloy of anger, fear, compassion and longing for justice. I lift up the Coptic Christians, those in Syria, Pastor Saeed Abedini, the orphans, the widows and those fighting for freedom.
But who prays for ISIS? Who prays for the Muslim Brotherhood? Who prays for Boko Haram and Vladimir Putin? Who prays for Al Queda?
Last Sunday, I served on prayer team at my church. Five of us huddled in the church office praying for the service and everything the Spirit laid on our hearts. We prayed for the church worldwide, but in that hour, none of us prayed for the persecutors. I have to confess, that even on my own time, I am reticent to pray for them. It’s not that I haven’t thought of it; it’s just that I don’t want to.
But in the biblical account, God didn’t let prayer warriors off the hook. In Acts 9:15-17, He replied to Ananias, ” ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the LordJesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ “
If Ananias had refused God, if he had found praying for the murderer of his Christian brothers just too hard, what would have become of Saul? Who would have become Paul? Who would have written the majority of the New Testament? Who would have written Romans, the consummate doctrine of salvation by grace through faith?
God may have asked Ananias to do the unbelievable, but God proved that He will do the impossible. The bulk of our sacred New Testament was penned by the very man who once slaughtered People of the Cross.
Might God dramatically change the trajectory of history if Christians today pray for the persecutors? Can you imagine, for a split second, the magnificent manifestation of God’s glory if those perpetuating evil turned their hearts toward Jesus? Do you think we should be praying for terrorists? What should we pray?
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Article url: http://articles.faithwriters.com/reprint-article-details.php?id=31272
Learn more about me on my website: http://predatory-lies.com/about-me/
Please find my book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Predatory-Lies-Anorexia-Kelly-ebook/dp/B00HFGMBJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389645006&sr=8-1&keywords=predatory+lies
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITER
The path?