All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it. Obadiah 7 (NIV).
Have you ever been abandoned by your friends, even your family? I have. Years ago, I did things that were wrong and, when my friends and family learned of it, many of them shunned me. Walked away. Expressed their anger and disgust. At the time, it seemed like an cruel trap, but it wasn’t. In reality, it was understandable.
And then there’s the social media purge of 2021. I’m one of those whose social media uses have drastically changed in the last week. It has affected how I shared this blog, whose daily recipient list has shrunk from over 10000 down two just over 3000: all because the tech companies have shut down or purged addresses and programs who disagree with them. I naively thought that would never happen, that those companies were fair and honest. I was wrong.
Now, a cold truth: that really doesn’t matter much in the long game. God will spread His words however He wants, even these here, and nothing can stop that. Nothing. Love prevails. God wins.
It’s true because God is all-powerful, more powerful than the forces of evil that He tolerates so that His glory and love may be displayed. Knowing that, it’s also true that God can remove His favor from our lives and let our enemies hurt us. Sometimes those we trust most can turn on us, or seem like they are enemies even when they aren’t.
When that happens, it feels like the world is spiraling. The hits keep coming, and when they hit it feels sharp. The sharp words cut deeply, and the deepest cuts take a long time to heal.
But be ye of good cheer in this. Remember, we’re never really alone. Sometimes God hasn’t removed His favor at all even as the devil is attacking at full power. Sometimes, we simply don’t realize that Jesus is with us all along, that it is we who turned our backs on Him instead of the other way around. The beauty of that is that, when we come to our senses, we can turn around and find Him there, ready to embrace again. Even when we’re ransacked. Even when we feel defeated.
I found that out. Time and repentance healed the wounds. And the hidden blessing about being kicked off media is that “they” soon lose the ability to control you. With an eye set on God, that makes for an undetected new beginning.
For further reading: Jeremiah 30:14, Psalm 41:9, Obadiah 8
Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sins. Help those I’ve hurt, and forgive those who’ve hurt me. Always be my only guide.
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Practical Proverbs 