SEASONS OF TAUNTING
Christine Wyrtzen
Let your steadfast come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your Word. Psalm 119:41-42
If the promises of God are coming true in my life in the form of answered prayers, then I do have a plan when others taunt me. Constant harassment will be crippling unless the arrows that come flying in my direction bounce off the confidence I enjoy from answered prayer. When the heavens are open and God is blessing me, I can sustain the attacks and stand tall. Oh, but when the heavens are silent and fellowship with God is broken, I lose all gut strength.
Taunting is birthed in hell. Satan even uses the mouths of Christians, unfortunately, to customize arrows of accusations where it hurts the most. If I’ve known rejection all my life, I may hear, “See, you always end up alone.” If I’ve known failure, “You’re destined for disaster. You’ll never amount to much!” If I’m a visionary and think out of the box, “There she goes again. What’s her hair-brained idea this time?!”
As much as these hurt, if God is dealing His hand in the middle of my life and answering my prayers, I can stay strong. I don’t even have to answer my accusers. Sometimes silence, in strength and humility, is the best answer. In my heart, I know who is for me. I know that I am standing tall in unbroken fellowship with God and enjoying unhindered prayers.
I can also be sure that this time of taunting is a season under God’s sovereign control. Just as God ordered the events of Jesus’ life, and taunting was perpetrated by evil but meant for good by God in the end, the same is being accomplished in my life. Others are watching how I respond to the harassment. And at the very least, I have the opportunity to dig my roots into Christ and stand like a tall tree on the riverbanks. The storm of words and the wind of condemnation may bend my branches but nothing inside me snaps like twigs. I am full of sap, and very green, because I am a branch on the life-giving VINE.
No one understands my life like You, Lord. Thank you for speaking into my life. I'm finished without Your strength. You are tall at my side and I can persevere. In Jesus' name, Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 29 March 2021.
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