When others are against you...

Chapter Forty-one:

How do you conduct yourself when others come against you, disagree with you or maybe even go to the extreme and become violent towards you, whether in words or action? It is not uncommon for believers of Christ to find themselves standing alone in the mist of unbelievers, and sad to say, even fellow believers. What will you do if/when your convictions and beliefs are questioned, ridiculed, or threatened if you do not withdraw them and succumb to others' wishes?

There were many throughout Biblical history who had to make the choice of whether to stand alone for what they believed or give in. Noah was thought a madman for building the ark. Moses was frequently threatened by mobs and the armies of Pharaoh. David even had to stand up to his own men who encouraged him to kill King Saul.  Then, of course, the ultimate example is our Lord Jesus Christ.

A common story of men who had to take a stand is the story of Caleb and Joshua. The story starts out in the Book of Numbers, where God has given Moses this directive: "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders" (Numbers 13:2). One of the men chosen was Caleb who was a recognized leader of his tribe, the tribe of Judah, the largest of the twelve tribes. Caleb and eleven of his peers, who were also representatives of the twelve tribes, were sent into Canaan to observe and report back what they found.  They were impressed with the city of Hebron; however, it was strongly controlled by a race of giant men called the descendants of Anak.

They returned and did report the abundance of the land, "it flows with milk and honey." However, ten of them were so frightened by the idea of conquering Canaan that they only focused on the large men, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13: 28,33). The bad report of the ten caught on and spread throughout the camp and the tribal leaders all became fearful.  By morning, the whole camp was so afraid they were ready to rebel, select another leader and return to Egypt, the land from which God had rescued them! (Numbers 14:1). The Israelites refused to believe in the power of God, even though they had witnessed firsthand how God had brought them out of Egypt. Only two men stood up to the crowd, Caleb and Joshua, and they reminded the people that God would help them conquer Canaan. However, no one believed them.  Moments later, God judged Israel, sentencing the nation to spend the next forty years to wander in the wilderness. 

 

We are shocked and amazed when we read that story in Scripture.  How could the Israelites  have questioned God's ability and willingness to help them defeat Canaan after what they had witnessed as they were being released and saved from Egypt?  Did they all suddenly develop memory problems...I do not think so. What they developed was the fear of what others were saying, what others were murmuring and succumbed to it.  I wonder at times if there were more than just Caleb and Joshua who really did believe that God could and would help them, but chose to remain silent out of fear for standing up for God when so many others were against it.

God always gives us something far greater than we could ever think of attempting on our own, so that when it is accomplished He alone gets the glory. If you confront something bigger than anything you think you can overcome, and you do not have faith in God, you will become afraid. It will seem to you as an impossible task because you are not focused on God and you will run from it. Doubt often leads to discouragement, which can lead to distrust, disobedience and ultimately walking away from God.

I am sure that Joshua and Caleb were not happy with having to wander the desert with those unbelieving Israelites, but they remained strong to their faith that God was wise and knew what He was doing. They could have become angry and have tried to change things, but they chose to allow God's plan to run its course. Rather than getting angry at the Israelites who were the cause of them having to stay in the desert too, they remained silent.  

When we stand alone and face opposition, it is easy to want to retaliate in some manner. Even a strong believer can become tempted to get revenge or at least speak their mind. From the example of Joshua and Caleb, we see two fine examples of believers who stayed in the spirit, rather than allowing their flesh to take over, and they simply waited on God, trusting Him. They knew they did not need to vindicate themselves.  They knew if they were right, it would come out in the end

 Many great believers have been martyred, become outcasts, or simply died by natural causes and did not see vindication in their lifetime. On vindication Oswald Chambers wrote, "Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, 'O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.' Such a need for constant vindication destroys ours soul's faith in God.  Don't say, 'I must explain myself' or 'I must get people to understand.' Our Lord never explained anything--He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves."

Waiting on God can be difficult when you have so many challenging, grumbling and disagreeing voices around you. When we stand alone, God will deal with our enemies (Second Timothy 4:14). Learn to leave your enemies in God's hands and continue to take your stand. And when you are taking your stand, remember your job is to obey God, no matter what others do.  Eventually, after forty years only Caleb and Joshua entered the promised land.  The other ten who had voiced fear and opposed invading Canaan died from a plague.  Would you have had the patience and faith in God to wait for the way to open up for you, or would you have spent the time defending yourself and trying to stop those who opposed you? There are times to fight and there are times to stand and wait upon the Lord.  You need to be in prayer as to which one the Lord wants you to do in each and every circumstance that comes before you.