If I am bullied or hurt by others?
Will God Still Love Me If... • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Being Bullied
Being Bullied
There are things we remember from growing up a lot more vividly than other things.
Unfortunately, some times those are the memories that hurt the most and made the biggest impression on us.
I remember trying out for the basketball team my 7th grade year.
I had played basketball all my life and loved it. And I wasn’t too bad, even though I was short and kind of slow.
It was like 4 days long and we were on day 2, standing in line for one of the drills and the 2 guys behind me (Brandon and Sean) were laughing about something.
It took me a second to figure it out, but Sean had intentionally spit on my shoulder and they were laughing about it. They then started mocking me and making fun of me.
I was 12 at the time, that was 29 years ago, but I can still visualize that memory and feel how I felt.
That isn’t the only memory I have of being bullied and I can still remember how it made me feel, devalued and angry.
Every one of us have experienced being harassed, bullied, or abused and it can make us feel worthless, lead us to anger, and frustration.
So in those moments, seasons, or interactions, the question might come “Does God still love me if I am bullied or hurt by others?
This question isn’t the same as the others in the sense that it isn’t necessarily something we have done or something inside us that is making us question God’s love, but something from outside us.
The way other people treat us can cause us to doubt God’s love for us.
Influencing how we see ourselves and value ourselves.
So how can we have confidence in God love for us and not let people influence how we thing of ourselves?
Fighting Against False Identity
Fighting Against False Identity
I want to briefly look at the life of David for help.
David was the youngest, smallest son of Jesse.
After the first King of Israel, Saul, makes a really boneheaded mistake, God rejects him as king and chooses David to be the new king in Saul’s place.
It takes a bit, but Saul finds out God has chosen David to replace him and he gets angry and starts attempting to kill David.
For nearly 15 years, David was on the run from Saul, having spears thrown at him and armies chase him.
Saul was a bully in all aspects of the word. He was an abuser that made David’s life a struggle for a long time.
Imagine dealing with a really aggressive bully for 15 years.
David has some moments of intense anger
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. 2 Rescue me from evildoers, and save me from men of bloodshed.
11 Do not kill them; otherwise, my people will forget. By your power, make them homeless wanderers and bring them down, Lord, our shield. 12 For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. They utter curses and lies. 13 Consume them in fury; consume them until they are gone. Then people will know throughout the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah
He has some moments of despair
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?
It is interesting and inspiring to see how David expresses his emotions in prayers and songs to God, and we have them to read and reflect on next to our own emotions.
But there is a Psalm that points to how David dealt with Saul’s abuse. Psalm 18 1-3
1 I love you, Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
So what did David pursue in order to find comfort, faith and even joy on his most difficult and troublesome days as king?
David allowed his view of the world to be shaped by who God is rather than by what he would be facing.
He looked back at the unchanging nature of God, and allowed his view of the world to be shaped by who God is rather than by what he would be facing. It’s a helpful thing to do.
David declared that God was his strength. He knew that God never gets tired from being strong, so David was free to be weak.
He declared that God was his rock, so David knew that he stood on solid ground.
He declared that God was his fortress, so David knew that he was safe and secure in God’s presence.
He declared that God was his deliverer. David knew that he would be rescued from his enemies and saved from himself.
He declared that God was his shield, so the blows and fiery darts of accusation from the enemy couldn’t pierce him.
David determined to let who God was define who he was and to let his identity come from God and not from man.
Jesus shares an important image with us about how God feels about us in Luke 12:6-7
6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Sparrows cost $.01 for 2 of them, quite cheap. But if you got 4, the seller would throw a 5th in for free.
The 5th sparrow was worthless in the eyes of the world.
But what does Jesus say about all the sparrows.
“Not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.”
And each of us are much more valuable than a sparrow.
