«Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake» (Luke 6:22).
If we pay attention, we’ll notice them. They are there, hidden, entrenched behind the words of mockery. Exactly where we least expect it, we will find a blessing.
When David asked what reward the person who killed Goliath would get, his brother mocked him. Eliab said to him: «Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?» (1 Samuel 17:28). Eliab basically put David in his place, reminding him that he was a simple little shepherd and not a man of war. I imagine God smiling and thinking, «Do you think so, Eliab? I’m about to show you, and all generations to come, what a little shepherd can accomplish in My hands.» God took that mockery and turned it inside out like a stocking. He turned it into a prophecy, a blessing, by giving David the victory through his shepherding tools.
Consider all the taunts Jesus endured during His judgment and crucifixion. The soldiers stripped off His clothes and put a scarlet cloak and a crown of thorns on Him. They knelt before him and said mockingly: «Hail, King of the Jews!» (see Matthew 27:27-30). When He was hanging from the cross, the priests also mocked him: «He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him» (Matthew 27:43). Can you see how prophetic those words were?
In The Desire of Ages, Ellen G. White reflected, «In their mockery of the Saviour, the men who professed to be the expounders of prophecy were repeating the very words which Inspiration had foretold they would utter upon this occasion. Yet in their blindness they did not see that they were fulfilling the prophecy.»—ch. 78, p. 749. With their taunts, these men not only fulfilled messianic prophecies, but also blessed listeners with willing hearts: «Although spoken in mockery, these words led men to search the Scriptures as they had never done before. . . . There were those who never rested until . . . they saw the meaning of Christ’s mission.»—Ibid. When people mock your faith, remember that God will bless you through those same words.
Lord, You take the words of mockery and cursing with which the enemy wants to stab me and You make them a source of life and blessing. Hallelujah!
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Take From: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2022
«NO FEARS»
BY: VANEZA PISSUTO
Collaborators: Alexandra Pérez & Angelica Cuate.
