When the World Doesn't Understand
“Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. . .For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it.”
David and I have a lot in common. He was easily swayed by his emotions as am I. He messed up in some pretty big ways, and I have too. He truly wanted to live his life for the Lord, but sometimes his “want to” and his “know how” didn’t see eye to eye. And, as we see in the passage above, David understood all too well what it was like to do the right thing and be despised for it. Unfortunately, I now know that pain as well.
In our attempts to find a good home for Barnabas, I thought it would be a good idea to reach out to fellow dog-lovers, particularly those who love pit bulls. So, I joined a couple of “pit bull lovers”groups on Facebook and described our situation. I felt if anyone would understand what we’re going through and be able to give helpful advice and suggestions, it would be these people. Boy, was I wrong!
I cannot even tell you some of the things that were said to me because I do not use such language. To hear most of the people within these groups talk, I was more evil than Satan himself for even thinking about giving away my dog. I was ridiculed. I was called every name under the sun. Some even stated it would have been better for Barnabas if we had never adopted him because we’re such horrible people. I was not prepared for such an onslaught of animosity, and my heavy heart could not bear it. I dropped out the groups, refusing to read another single post.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, most of those people probably were not saved, and the world simply cannot understand why any sane person would give up their home, family, and yes, dog, to go to another country to tell others about Jesus. It doesn’t make sense to them. In their minds, there’s nothing greater than living the American dream (or the equivalent to that in other countries around the world). They don’t understand that there’s something out there bigger than themselves and their happiness. They’ve never tasted the grace of God, so they cannot comprehend why we would give up everything to tell others about it. To be honest, on my tougher days, I have to remind myself why we’re doing what we’re doing.
But even though I know we’re doing a great work, it’s difficult when others look down on us because of it. It’s hard to be ridiculed and thought a fool. It’s discouraging when people demean our efforts to be the best person we can be and accuse us of being cold and uncaring. Like David, I took my pain to the Lord, and I poured out my heart. That’s when God directed me to Psalm 109, particularly the last couple of verses.
“I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.”
No, the world may not understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, but God does. And He will stand by us and save us from those who are condemning us. He may not shelter us from the insults, but He will give peace and blessed reminders that any work done for Him is a good work and will be rewarded. We’re not alone. The world may mock and criticize, but it doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is what God says. And with that in mind, I can worship and praise Him for all He’s done and all He will do. And then, I can follow God’s leading and help the world to understand, one soul at a time.