Shepastor: "Standing Up to Bullies is Hard but Necessary..."

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 1 Samuel: 24-26, KJV.

Standing up to bullies can be tough! In the above text, the giant Philistine warrior Goliath stood and threatened and challenged the armies of Israel day after day. Understandably, the people were paralyzed with fear. After all, he was a GIANT!!! He was fierce! He looked like he could crush their bones in one pounce!

It took a young shepherd boy, seemingly harmless and no match for this bully to stand tall in the name of his God to bring Goliath down. Because we have the record, we know how the story ends. David, on the other hand only had his faith.

This past week, two female Senators, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) were proverbial "Davids." Whatever your political persuasion, one must concede that it took courage to withstand political peer pressure, thinly veiled threats and the prospect of being pushed out of the Senate to vote their conscience. "Goliath" came at them strong!

According to the July 28th edition of the New Yorker, "Murkowski did so despite being the object of crass insults and bullying from President Donald Trump, conveyed via tweet, telephone, and emissary." ("Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham, and How the Health-Care Vote Went Down," by Amy Davidson Sorkin, www.newyorker.com ).

In the final analysis, Senator John McCain (Arizona) boldly stood with Senators Murkowski and Collins to vote against what they saw as a bad bill.

Three senators resisted the pressure to vote for something that they believed was wrong for millions of people. Three people may have literally changed the course of history.

Bullies exist in every sphere of life...in schoolyards and classrooms, in homes and neighborhoods, in communities and governments, in churches and every other relationship. Bullies, however, cannot prevail where faith, courage and love stand up. May we, by faith have the courage and love to stand up to bullies. Our GREAT God will cause us to triumph and in so doing, save the lives of many.

Post a comment or send me an email at Shepastor1@hotmail.com

Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org