Over the course of my life, I've come to understand that sooner or later, you will face opposition. We all will. And I mean people that come against us, people that make negative comments, people who are naysayers. And no matter how good of a Christian you are, no matter how much faith you have, sooner or later, there's always one. There's always going to be someone who will attempt to discredit, undermine, or belittle you. Now, as for me, I know that if I wasn't saved, Lord knows I'd be trying to take matters into my own hands. You might have your own way of dealing with such people, but I thank God I'm at the Lord because when I meet a naysayer, a discourager, a holier-than-thou person, then the flesh and me, the carnal man, or rather human nature, is to try to straighten them out and prove them wrong. But here's the thing. The way in which we think we should defend ourselves is often not God's will or way. God says I am your defender. I am your refuge. I am your strong tower. So we think we have to defend ourselves. We think we have to defend our reputation. We think we have to make them respect us. But in doing so, we are saying, God, it's not enough that you said in your word that you will prepare a table before my enemies. It's not enough that you promised to defend me. I would rather take matters into my own hands. You see, if you're constantly trying to defend yourself, if you're constantly taking matters into your own hands, it will drain you. It will drain your energy. It will drain your enthusiasm. And the second thing is, if you're constantly taking matters into your own hands, you'll get distracted fighting battles that you were never supposed to fight. But may I remind you that you don't have to take matters into your own hands. God will defend you. Leave it to him to fight your battles. I had to get to a stage where I had to stop worrying about the negative comments. I had to stop getting drawn into fights, which are real distractions and energy drainers. Then it's the enemy that tries to throw up all of these conflicts. So you'll waste your time and energy involved in battles that don't matter. Yes, you may be a good person and they may be provoking you. Yes, what they're saying about you may not be true. But let me tell you, it doesn't matter how good you are, how loving or kind and upstanding, people are people and somebody somewhere is not going to like you. Everyone is going to try to discredit you. This shouldn't be surprising to you because it also happened to Jesus. Despite his good works, despite the miracles, despite the large gatherings that saw people healed and made whole, Jesus still had naysayers and opposition. He did nothing but good and yet he was falsely accused. But let me ask you, how did Jesus defend himself? How did he defend himself? He left it in God's hands. Now what about you? What happens if you leave it to God? How much more peace would you have? How much more joy would you have? God can defend you better than you can defend yourself. You don't have to try to pay people back or sort them out. The truth is, some people are never going to be for you. No matter what you do, they're never going to like you. Seasons change. Circumstances change. People evolve and life springs unexpected twists and turns on us. And to be honest, sometimes the season for a relationship ends or it changes very drastically. And I don't know about you, but I sure have had some relationships that I've had to walk away from that tore me two pieces. I cried, but in spite of the tears, God still said it was time to go. And then there have been relationships when others walked away from me. And it did not feel good at the time. But I later found out that that was the best thing that could have happened for either of us. Now look back on your own life and just imagine how different life might have been if that relationship had remained intact. Some relationships could have truly soured and gone even further south. You wouldn't have made room for other people to enter your life and you certainly would not have experienced growth in particular areas of your life. So I urge you think back on your life and see if there's a time when you experienced a transition and the pain of that thing caused you to forget the reason God had you in the earth. The reason he'd placed someone in your life. The reason you're on that job. The reason he placed you in that church. The reason you're in that family. When did it get so rough that you said to heck with it all? When did it get so rough that you sabotaged a relationship because you were afraid of how things might turn out? When did you throw in the towel? Or who was it that you left hanging? Who was left without your attention, your guidance, your love, your friendship? I had to get to a stage whereby I said, Lord Jesus, I'm turning this over to you. I'm not going to spend my life worried about what someone else is saying about me. No longer will I waste my energy trying to change another person's mind, but instead I will focus on the Lord to defend me and fight for me. And when I did that, I found that whenever people try to push me down, God pulled me up. Whenever people try to push me back, my Savior pushed me forward. Those who try to discredit me and make me look back, the Lord is ever faithful and he turned what they meant for evil and made it for my good. So let me ask you, why don't you put your battles in God's hands? Why don't you concede and quit spending all your time trying to defend yourself? You have a defender who can protect you better than you can. He knows how to vindicate you. This is what Jesus did. He was disrespected. They called him a fraud, a cheat, and an imposter. But the scripture says he made himself of no reputation. Meaning he wasn't concerned about making a name for himself or about his reputation. And you should have the same spirit too. Let God fight the battle. Do you think he doesn't see what's happening to you? God can intervene. The more they keep talking, the more he will elevate you. The more they talk, the more God uses them as your footstool. When they think they're hurting you, the truth is God will work that for your good. And eventually you'll see that they weren't hurting you. They were helping you. The Lord will pay you back for what they're saying by taking you to new levels. That's why Psalm 23 says he will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies. That table that God prepares for you is only done in the presence of the ones that tried to disrespect you or hold you down. They will see you in a position of honor. They will see you promoted and elevated. That's your defender at work. Don't leave it to God. Let him fight and deal with that negativity. All the while, you place your trust in him.
