GOD My Defender

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One of the biggest struggles I believe many of us face today, especially in the world of social media, is keeping our mouths shut. . . or really, our fingers from typing. We see a post or comment that offends our sensibilities, and we feel the need to defend ourselves. It is very difficult to refrain from doing so, right?


I learned from Shelley Giglio that God is the only defender we need.

Did you need to hear that as much as I did?

GOD IS YOUR DEFENDER.

She explained that God is not so much concerned about our circumstances. He is more concerned about us IN the circumstance. He is more concerned about the way we are responding, the way we are forgiving, and the way we are loving in spite of the circumstances.

Did you catch that? “In spite of the circumstances.” So basically our response is far more important than what was done or said to us. That’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? Our instinct is generally to pounce first, then deal with the aftermath later. But that’s not what God calls us to do. He is bigger than that, and we can trust Him to handle it in a way we never could.

Shelley reminded me, we really don’t need to defend ourselves when God is the one staring straight down the barrel into our hearts. He doesn’t need us to tell Him how it went. What happens is we end up being the ones trying to tell everyone else, so they are on our side. But do we need them on our side, or do we need God on our side?

Ohhhh. I think I heard the mic drop Shelley.

We have to make a choice between God and people. When we choose God, we always choose right, because He is the greatest lover of people, and He will guide us into loving well as He handles the ugly stuff. He will be our defender if we step out of the way and let Him.

Now, please understand. This in no way means you should let people take advantage of you or let them walk all over you. We are talking about circumstances where you have the opportunity to choose to walk away and allow God to do His thing. He is far more creative in responses than we could ever be. Trust Him to do it.

“The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” -‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:14‬ ‭

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