When the battle rages on and the lies are told...

I have been working through a battle in the court reporting world, lobbying for a bill at the legislature, and finding that people I thought were friends will believe lies told about you, and they will run with those lies and make them even worse.  I have known what I was fighting for was the right thing, but in the face of all the bitterness and hate that has arisen from trying to do the right thing, I am weary.   This week has been another tough one.  God has taught me much through this, and I want to list those things, and then I promise, we will move on so you don’t have to keep hearing about this! 

Last weekend right before the actual ugliness of the debate was to begin, one of my sweet, sweet friends slipped me a note, a handwritten note, with nothing but four scriptures on it – scriptures that talk about our strength coming from the Lord, the battle being the Lord’s battle and not ours – such a balm to my spirit.  I was exhausted mentally and physically, and I knew I was in for an attack, but her gift of those words was truly God-sent.  Isn’t it AMAZING how the Word of God is truly the answer to everything?  Everything!  There is no battle we are going through, no illness, no trial, that God does not address in His word.  And even if our answer isn’t “I won’t make you go through this,” He sends his message to us through these God-inspired words.  I teared up when I read them in this meeting, and I’m crying now as I type this.  Praise God for good friends – especially friends who KNOW His word and KNOW just what you need!

I have learned that even when you stand to fight against something that you know is right, you may damage other people in the process.  I have to admit publicly (and I have admitted privately) that I did not think through how many people might be drug into this battle I was going through whether they wanted to be or not, and they would be damaged and hurt whether they chose it or not.  I have had to apologize to many who did not deserve the treatment they had received at the hands of the one who was really out to get me and not them – they were just caught in the crossfire, but it was a crossfire of my creation, and I am to blame.  I have grieved over how I’ve hurt people and am ashamed that I did not think these things through.

I have learned that many, many may believe lies that are told about you, and sometimes there isn’t much you can do about that, but God is the one I need to please and need to be worried about how He views me.  I still believe I need to clear up falsehoods that were told about me with the legislators and I am praying as to how/if/when to address that.  But in the grand scheme of things, it is God who I seek to please, and it is God who will convict me of my actions when they are out of line.  I remember when the kids were little and they’d want to do this or that, and someone else’s parents said it was okay, and I would respond with, “Well, I’m sorry, I do not answer to so-in-so, but I answer to God for the decisions I make regarding you,” and they just hated that!  They were in debate mode and wanted to debate someone to get this permission, and God just wasn’t up for debate(:
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Our preacher preached last week a sermon entitled “The Devil is No Match For You!”  We’ve often heard it said that we’re no match for the devil, but the exact opposite is true!  If God is on our side, who can be against us?  The Bible gives us scripture after scripture of our power in Him, and we just need to claim it and know it!  I had not slept for almost two weeks when I went to church last Sunday, in my glasses because I couldn’t even get my contacts in, and it was a good thing, because I just sat and cried the whole time, praising God that He has my back!  He knows my needs!  He loves me in spite of me!  He has given me power over evil!  He has given all of us the gift of forgiveness when we don’t deserve it!  I praise His name – without Him, I am nothing!