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I messaged a friend of my son's. Her and Tabor were two of the "chosen" to be mocked and ridiculed and made fun of at a basketball game Friday night from a rival team. They were calling our school rednecks. Making fun of Ta's truck ("Loud and Proud"). Making fun of their school's chosen hangout place (Sonic). Etc.
Saturday morning I Facebook messaged Austyn to encourage her.
Me:
Hey girl, I heard about the writing on the whiteboard last night at the game. I heard that you were mentioned and so was Tabor. I called Ta later and told him, "Hello, Mr. Chosen Popular Man." He told me that it had made him so mad. Sabrina said that he walked away. I was proud that he did. I told him that they are obviously immature, childish, and jealous. And that if he had gotten on their level and done the same thing back, that he would have been just as childish as they were. I told him that I was proud that he didn't. He thanked me for reminding him of that. Since you were mentioned also, I thought I'd remind you too. :) It always takes the bigger man to walk away.
We're told (by our Commander Himself) not to return evil with evil or INSULT WITH INSULT!! Just because someone insults us, we're never to insult back. God has told us to BLESS them instead! He says that that's what we've been CALLED to do! I tell Him often when someone insults or offends me, "God, I guess I'm being CALLED again. Please, Lord, Please BLESS the mean!"
LOVE YOU! Hope this is a good reminder and encouraging.
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Austyn said:
Thank you so much Mrs. Sharon! I was not at the game, but Tabor, along with many others called me and let me know about it. You should also know that he stood up for me, which meant more than anything to me coming from him. He has always been the bigger person, and today he was telling me that last night he had people standing up for him and having his back that he thought hated him. I told him that's what he gets for always being the bigger person and never returning their mean actions. You've got an awesome son Mrs Sharon and you have raised him right! Thank you so much for the encouraging words, they really do help. Its always hard for me to hold my tongue, but everything you said has so much truth! I love and miss you!
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Me:
Okay! You made me cry!!! Thanks for sharing with me more of the story. I didn't know all that. How sweet that Tabor took up for you! And that others, too, took up for him!
Austyn, you never have to hold your tongue! It's just that sometimes we need to change the One we're talking to. God! He still wants us to speak! Just bring the person to Him and ask Him to bless them.... because obviously surely they need it! He says that when we do, that it is US that will be the one to receive the reward! And it sure does always feel good after we've done it!
You know how God says that He works ALL things out for good for those that love Him? Perhaps one reason He lets us get pierced by the tongue or meanness of another person is so that we will PRAY!! It is an all fired-up way to remind us and prompt us to do it! Most of the time, we wouldn't otherwise think to. Wouldn't that be great if we thought like that and remembered always that an ugly was Prayer dialing the number and begging us to pick up its phone?
When people do ugly things like that in my life, I always think of the "lunatic" that's talked about in Scripture. It's such a perfect picture of it... and always makes me laugh! It helps defuse my anger! And makes me KNOW that I dare not want to also act and look the same that a lunatic does. This Scripture isn't exactly talking about this, but I have a weird way of thinking, it sure makes a great visual.
"Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to Thy disciples, and they could not cure him." [Perfect example! How quickly do we "take" the lunatic to someone else.... KNOWING that they aren't able to fix them? And fail to "take" them to Jesus, the One who can?] "Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to Me" ~ Matt 17:15-17.
I can just picture me as a kid when I told on one of my sisters to my mom. Can't you just hear her say as I'm sure your mom has said in a tone that demanded attention? "Tell her I said to come here!" [Bring her hither to me!]
Austyn, we don't have to not say! We can still say. We can say until we've finished saying and we feel better. But we don't "say" to them or talk about them to others; instead we just BRING the LUNATIC to Jesus and let Him deal with them. We 'say' to Jesus! We can still use words, just use them to bless 'em instead of cursing them.
p.s. I know I have a weird way of thinking! But, hey, I hope this helps! It works for me!
:-)
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End of our conversation.
Shall we be reminded? Tabor's and Austyn's struggle is not against those kids from the rival team that were mocking and poking fun at them. Our struggle is not against people. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our struggle is against the things that rule us, that have power over us, the spiritual forces of evil in this dark world.
As God told Cain when angered, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control [rule] you. But you must master [rule over] it."
The weapons we use to fight with to defeat the enemy's schemes to rule and control and have power over us is different than the world's. The weapons we fight with are taking every thought captive to make it submit to the obedience to Christ. To renew the mind. Our armor and what we combat the enemy with is with Truth, with doing what's right, with the gospel of peace that we've been given, with faith, with the knowing that you have been saved, and with all that is written in the Word of God.
If (for example) Steve has done evil against me, it is not Steve that I am struggling with. He is not who I'm fighting. My battle, my struggle, is against the power of anger that crouches at my door desiring to have me, to control me, to master me, to rule over me.
When Robbie (another example) has raped David's wife, it isn't Robbie that this is David's enemy. David's enemy is the rage that wants to control him to make him to take revenge in his own hands and murder the man that hurt his wife. Etc.
When Tim (my husband) has said something that's incited me and made me mad, Tim is not the enemy. It's the control of anger that wants to make me look like an idiot and to loose my head that is.
Or, in the case with Austyn above, her enemy was her anger that wanted to rule over her and make her insult back the insulter that insulted her first.
Will you allow your anger to gossip, to slander, to backbite, to fight, to murder instead of forgive the person for what they've done to you? Will you decide to control and rule over your anger? Or will you allow your anger to control and rule over you instead?
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." ~ Eph 6:13-17.
What kind of schemes is the devil scheming toward you and your life, but you've not been able to see it as him scheming against you, because your focus is wrongly turned toward a person in the place of your real enemy?
Don't fall for what desires to have you, but rise up instead to do what our Savior's said and have victory in every battle methodically planned and purposed against you! Why fall so easily for such meanness, when we have the power, the very same power, that raised Jesus Christ from the dead living inside us!
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Oopsie! That's definitely NOT the way she planned it!
