Not Going to Call Me!
By Shirley Mitchell
“Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it. They may curse, but you will bless; when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice.”
Psalm 109:26-28
My sister Linda is such a blessing to me. God has been so kind to us that we live five minutes apart and have daughters in the same grade at school (first grade). Our daughters have been involved in swimming, dance, and now soccer together. My sister called me on the phone one day to tell me a story about Victoria.
Her daughter Sarah and Victoria were at soccer practice one night. One of their teammates was starting to get a little mouthy to them while the coach was busy. This teammate started to tease them. Then she struck with the most brutal blow of all. She called them “weirdos.” Yes, she called them the dreaded “weirdos.”
Now, Victoria lives in a house with two older sisters. Sarah does not. I would like to paint a picture of our home as harmonious, blissful, and peaceful. But, let’s get real. Victoria has had her share of teasing. She has had to get some thick skin.
Well, little sweet Sarah did not know what to do when this girl said something as horrifying as (gasp) “weirdos.” But Victoria did. Victoria marched right up to that little girl, used her pointer finger, and said, “You’re not going to call me a weirdo!” She has learned well the art of the foot stomp, the head bob, the pointed finger, and the other hand on the hip to enforce her point.
My sister and I just belly laughed and laughed about this story. Their teammate’s insult just bounced right off Victoria. She knew she was not a “weirdo,” and she was not going to put up with such accusations.
We all have been insulted one time or the other. People have tried to put us down and make us believe the worst of ourselves. They do it to make themselves feel better and more elevated.
One accuser surpasses them all. He takes pleasure in throwing mud and belittling us. Revelation 12:10 calls him the “accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night.” He loves to heap ridicule and shame on God’s prized creation. The evil one thrives on making us think that we are something that we are not. If you and I ever really understood our identity in Christ, then we would not be living in mediocrity. We would be taking every spiritual blessing and allowing God to go beyond what we could do on our own.
So the evil one tosses insult after insult to us. Sometimes, it is over sin that maybe we have committed. Maybe it is sin that he enticed us to commit and then turns around and tells us things like, “You are ruined.” He whispers lies to us like, “If anyone finds out what you have done, he or she will never even accept you, much less love you.”
So many of us are searching for significance and identity that we don’t know who we are. We believe lies like, “You are worthless”, “You can’t do anything right”, or “You failed last time. Don’t you know that you are incompetent?” We have allowed thoughts to creep in that we dare not utter to anyone else for fear that they will think we are crazy, or they will know how insecure that we really are.
However, our God has something much different to say about us. You see up there in the heavenly realms where the accuser is hurling his worst thoughts about us for all spiritual beings to hear, our God is blessing us in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3). He is saying things like, “You are my child. You belong to me. I gave everything to be with You. You are precious and should be cherished.”
Precious friend, we cannot give in to the negative thoughts put in our mind and play that tune over and over. We must know what God says about us. Only then we will be able to be like Victoria and reject the accusation so that it never sticks to us. People will scorn us. Accusations will be heaved our way, but they don’t have to make a dent. The only impact should be that we are reminded again of our identity in Christ, pray for God to stop the kingdom of darkness in its attempts to hurt people, and pray for anyone whose mouth may have been used as a tool for the enemy. Let’s become immune to slander and slurs. Let’s take Victoria’s attitude that we are not going to called anything that contradicts who we are in Christ. May you and I be so strong in this identity that we are untouchable by any insults. Let’s be entrenched in this identity so we will never be mauled again by the words of the enemy. Above all, let’s give thanks to the One who is worthy of all praise and the One from whom we derive our worth!
Pray with me: Oh, Lord, You are breath-taking! Thank You for blessing us in the heavenly realms. Thank You for seeing us through loving, righteous eyes through the blood of Jesus. Make us untouchable by anything the accuser tries to say about us. Help us to be solid in our identity in You. May we know how valuable we are as Your children. We are Your treasure. Our love for You is nothing compared to Your great love for us.
Whenever we are the object of scorn and people shake their heads at us, help us, O LORD our God, and save us in accordance with Your love. Our accusers will be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. With our mouths, we will greatly extol You, O LORD; in the great throng, we will praise You (Psalm 109:25-26, 29-30). Some of us may have been scorned and had people shake their heads at us, but You redeem us! You remove the cloak of shame and give us garments of righteousness and praise. One day, the ultimate accuser will receive his punishment. Until then, we trust in You and praise Your Name! In the wonderful Name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.