Have you had to deal with intimidation? I think most of us will at some stage in our life. It is a nasty, devilish, tactic meant to cut the ground out from under our feet, often done by people who feel insecure in their own skin or their position. The thing is.....do you know how to deal with it? For believers in Christ the place to begin is in God's Word.
I am a fan of the Old Testament. Yes, I know there are many boring bits and many bits that are hard to understand but there are so many nuggets that it should not be avoided. One of them came up in my reading today in 2 Kings 18 & 19 that addressed the topic of intimidation. It would be great if you read the whole story yourself but I will give it to you in a nutshell here to whet your appetite.
Kings came and went in Israel and Judah, some were good, following God's ways, others were very wicked and suffered much at the hands of their enemies as a result. Hezekiah became king in Judah when he was 25 years old. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and destroyed the places of idol worship. 'He trusted in the Lord God of Israel.....he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him.....The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went.' (2 Kings 18:5-7).
However, Hezekiah's faith was about to be tested. During his reign he'd seen his neighbours besieged and taken captive by their enemy Assyria who, not content with that began to press in on Judah. Hezekiah tried to pay them off with gold and silver but it didn't work. The king of Assyria sent his cronies up to Jerusalem on an intimidation mission. Surrender or suffer! "Hezekiah trusts his God to deliver but that's not going to happen!" they said.
Hezekiah knew where to go in his despair. He humbled himself, took the threatening letter and spread it before the Lord and prayed and the Lord answered. Judah did not have to fight because, 'the angel of the Lord went out, and killed 185,00 Assyrian soldiers camped outside the wall.' 2 Kings 19:35.
I see more and more a spirit of intimidation rising up to fight against God's people, but really they are fighting against God and the truth of his word. We need to know where to turn when this happens. We get before God and ask for his help, we don't back down in the face of intimidation. If we speak truth, we need to speak it in love, but we cannot compromise and change God's truth. What we need from God is more grace to love those who fight against us (our enemies) (Matthew 5:44). Love your enemies knowing that Jesus said, 'God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.' Matthew 5:11
Do go read Hezekiah's story and be encouraged.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that we have your written word to encourage us in our faith as we read about those who have gone before us. Help us to remember that your word is a powerful sword in our fight against our real enemy Satan. Help me to know your word and not neglect it. Amen
