But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion. (Jer 20:11)
One thing is for certain: we have plenty of naysayers in our lives. It seems to be a part of human nature to want to tear other people down. If we “do our job” and live as Christians, we are going to be targeted by those in the world because our lives will be a source of struggle for them as we challenge them to embrace the Lord and change their lives.
Rather than change, human nature does all that it can do to hold on to what is in place.
The people who are totally immersed in this world will not want to change. Instead, they will most likely go after the messengers of change and do all that they can to bring us down.
There are definitely times in our lives when we think that the world has the upper hand. It can exert great force on us and can exact quite a toll. However, if we remain firm in our resolve, God will give us the grace that we need to hang in there. Ultimately, it will be the world that stumbles and falls, not us.
Instead of feeling anger toward those who persecute us, we should feel sorrow for them and should do all that we can to help them to change.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for all of those who belittle you and all those who persecute you, that they may turn their lives around before it is too late.