STEADY IN THE FIRE
Christine Wyrtzen
The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. Psalm 119:69
David’s enemies were jealous of his reputation. They were proud and felt that they deserved the attention and prestige. They didn’t even blink when they conceived lies that would bring him to a place of contempt in the public’s eye. They justified their sin because it would get them what they wanted – center stage.
Their plot didn’t cause him to sway off course. He did not engage in name calling nor defend himself. With his whole heart, he honored God’s precepts, namely – not taking revenge on those who deserved punishment. He left such things to God.
Sooner or later, every child of God will experience a smear campaign. It may be a coup d’etat over a place in the church; a position of leadership coveted by one who feels overlooked. A carnal agenda can run rampant to discredit a godly leader by concocting untrue or exaggerated stories that will cast the goodman in a badlight. All in the name of self-advancement and entitlement.
If we have lost money, position, and places of leadership because of a smear campaign the likes of what David suffered, and if we have borne it patiently as he did, we must take courage. We remember Joseph. The time in the dungeon was temporary. In it, God taught him wisdom, and while he was in his underground school, God was preparing all of Egypt for a new kind of leader. God takes up the cause of His servants, whether now or later. His redemptive purposes are never off course. Though it may look like it, hindsight will reveal that even betrayal was part of heaven’s timetable. The ticking of the clock is steady and under sovereign control.
In betrayal and injustice, you have a plan for Your child and the tormentors are on your leash and on your time clock. Help us take comfort in that. Amen
Originally published Thursday, 12 July 2018.
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