Do you ever wonder why people are persecuted, especially for righteousness sake? Growing up, going to school, from the time I was in 2nd grade until I graduated 8th grade, I was bullied almost every single day by so many different people. I was hit, made fun of, pushed, and made to feel like a lesser vessel. I endured each time. I was able to brush each and every single instance of abuse off my shoulders, but only because the Lord showed me the hand of satan from even back then. I remember being in 2nd grade, and my teacher made us pair up with someone in the class to discuss something. I was paired with one of my bullies. During that assignment all he did was cry. He cried because his parents were getting a divorce. All I could do was listen, and show compassion to the best of my 7-year-old ability. The very next day when I saw him, he was back to his old bullying self, but it didn’t seem as intense. That’s one of the first times I remember the Lord speaking to me: “He is hurting. Pray for him.” So I did. I don’t remember the pray itself, but I’m sure it was something like, “Lord, I pray for ____. I hope he is okay.”
While there were many other bullies besides that one, every single one of them had the same thing in common: they were hurting. The Lord showed me, when I was in Middle School, that one of my biggest bullies was mad because she wanted the life I was living. They weren’t able to receive love from their father the way I received love from my father. The Lord even showed me how difficult her life, at the age of 12, was. I felt so terrible for her that I allowed her to continue bullying and abusing me. At a young age, I understood that hurt-people hurt people. I understood she needed an outlet for her anger, and I was that outlet. I made the decision not to tell anyone, but to just endure, and with the help of the Lord, I was able to endure. I do not recommend keeping this information to yourself, because if someone is hurting you, or someone you know, chances are the bully needs help, needs healing, and needs guidance for him or herself. Surprisingly, or not, once the Lord showed me what was going on with each of my bullies, and I began to pray for them, the severity of the bullying decreased. Not that they stopped bullying me, but the strength I received from the Lord, the endurance I received from Him, was so great that I was no longer moved.
One more example, when I was substitute teaching several years ago, I noticed this one elementary school kid was hanging out with a lot of other not so well behaved kids. After lunch, as I was teaching the class, he kept interrupting me, not loud enough for everyone to hear, but enough for me to hear. He told me how his father abused him, and went into details about the abuse. I couldn’t NOT do anything. At the end of the day, I told the principal who had to call ACS. When I saw the kid the following week, he looked so much better. He looked more focus, and more eager to learn. I recently found out the father immediately confessed to abusing the son the moment ACS got involved, and the kid was removed from his custody. I must tell you, that same kid that first told me about the abuse several years ago, I saw not too long ago. The light in his eyes were so bright, I almost cried, thankful to God for turning his situation around.
In the same way that bullies, who are hurt, try to hurt other people, the devil tries to hurt the people of God. The devil is angry with God, because he wants to be God and he can’t be. He is angry because he wants people to be his slaves, but there are those who have turned their back on him, and turned their face to Jesus. The devil wants to be worshipped and glorified, but he just isn’t good enough. So what does he do? He tries to attack the sons and daughters of the One he wants to be. He has a great mind game, but we, as believers, have the mind of Christ. The devil will use anyone who operates in his or her flesh to persecute the believer.
Why does God give us strength to endure? Jesus takes it personal when we, His believers, are persecuted for His sake. We ARE the apple of God's eye. When we are poked at, the poker is poking God in His eye. Even though I always knew this, it just clicked: When Saul (who we now know as the Apostle Paul) was killing and persecuting believers of Jesus Christ, Jesus asked him "why are you persecuting Me?" Those who are hurting cope by hurting others, but unfortunately, depending on who they are hurting, they might unknowingly be poking at the eye of God. So for all of those who are being bullied, or are having a hard time forgiving past bullies, your bully is worse off than you, and needs your prayers. The bullies need to know that our wonderful God loves them just as much as He loves us. Seek help? YES! Not just for your sake, but for theirs.
In closing, I leave you with this scripture, the words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
You are stronger than you think. You are greater than the devil wants you to believe. And, you are MORE than a conqueror through HIM who loves you.
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