Painfully Protective

In the posts written thus far, I have shared a side of my father which showed his abusive nature. He was harsh and cruel but there was one thing about this man that I would proclaim on the top of any mountain… my father would kill ANYONE that touched his kids. As you read other entries you will hear my stories with him but there was one thing I can say, I never feared anyone but him. No matter how abusive HE was to my brothers and I, he would NEVER let anyone place their hands on us without bring them to their knees in fear of death… REAL death. I am in no way exaggerating about this.

If we, who are mere humans know how to defend our loved ones when they are being attacked, how much more would God do for us? My family and I lived in a building 7 stories high, and there was a thirteen-year-old boy who lived directly above us. This young man was known for his bad behavior and rudeness to adults. One summer day my younger brother and I were going to ride our bikes outside, so we went to the elevator which was one door away from our apartment. We pressed the button and waited patiently. When the door opened the young boy and one of his friends were there. He blocked the elevator door, and when he saw we were trying to come on, the boy stood in our way and told us to take the next elevator. The door closed and my apartment door opened. My father asked why I didn’t go on the elevator, and when I told him what happened my father immediately ran upstairs to meet this boy. He banged on the door and the young man came out. My father started screaming obscenities at him. That young boy’s mother tried desperately to calm my father down, but it was futile. At some point my father stormed away from them to go into our apartment and get something. After he found what he wanted, he ran back upstairs with something. He had his gun. He pointed his loaded gun in the face of this thirteen-year-old boy. Immediately his mother jumped in front of the gun screaming with pure desperation for my father to kill her instead. The fear of the boy’s mother caused my father to snap out of it, but before he promised that if the boy were to ever touch any of us, my father would kill him.

My Big Daddy

Is our God that way? Does he point a loaded gun in the face of a minor like that and promise to blow his head off? Our God is not cruel or heartless, but he is not an inactive father either. I am tired of people painting God as a weak, clueless entity who is far away and raising up a cult of hippy, liberal, ditzy, mine less followers. Yes He is Love, but He is also God — Lord of Lords, King of Kings and a very protective Heavenly Father. He is not sitting back watching his kids being beaten up, abused, even beheaded with no plan of action. He’s not going to see wrong done without intervening. I learned why the Bible tells us to pray for our enemies because when God has finished with them, I will feel total remorse for all that has befallen them. Some people may have a hard time with this kind of view of God because we don’t want to face the fact that the Bible warns us that God does get angry. What father wouldn’t if they saw the apple of their eye being abused (Psalm 17:6-7)?

One of the things I learned about my father was the longer it took for him to blow his top, the worse the eruption when it happened. Apparently, this young man had run-ins with my father before that incident with the elevator and this was just the last straw. God is the same way. Don’t believe me? Look at the famous story of the children of Israel being enslaved by the Egyptians. The Lord’s anger was held back from the Egyptians for 400 years. In those years the different pharaohs abused the people, enslaved them, killed their babies and more. When God finally called Moses to deliver them he said,

“22 Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” Exodus 4:22-23 NIV.

Don’t you see? God was not just speaking as a Lord or just a judge giving justice, but as a Father who had enough! He called Israel his “firstborn son.” So his goal was to take out Pharaoh’s firstborn son. Not only did God kill his firstborn, but God totally brought one of the most powerful, influential, feared nations to their knees, begging for mercy. That nation was never able to return to what they were after God was done with them.
There is one more example, the very first king was named King Saul. In 1 Samuel 15, God gave him a very harsh command. He told Saul that he was going to punish the Amalekite people so, Saul was to kill every single person. He was to even make sure that the animals were killed as well. Now someone reading this would feel that they had proof of God’s random unfair judgment and evidence of the injustice he reigned on the innocent but, on the contrary, we see a father that is paying a people back for the cruel attack that was inflicted on his “firstborn son” all the way back in Exodus 17. Deuteronomy 25 recalls it:

“17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. 18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (NIV)

These cruel people preyed on the old, slow, weary and worn out while they were escaping from Egypt. They went after those who could not fight for themselves and nothing makes a father more angry than someone who goes after his kids when they are in a vulnerable state. God may not repay right away, but sometimes that’s worse because if that group of people doesn’t repent and they find themselves in the hands of angry God the Father, then I think it makes sense to pray for our enemies. If you read on in 1 Samuel 15, Saul did not kill the leader of these people. He wanted to keep him alive. This act of mercy cost Saul the throne.

You Need To Pray For Them

My father was a mean, cruel, foul-mouthed, addict who was abusive and brash, but when I gave my heart to the Lord I expected God to fight for me the way my father did. I expected that when I came before him and told him how I was attacked and hurt, that he would take care of it better than I ever could. You see my friend, there maybe people that have attacked you and hurt you, robbed you, and even victimized you and you think that God has done nothing, but I am proof that ALLLL that broke me, ruined me, tried to destroy me, and were puppets in traps set for me, found themselves in the hands of a very angry Father. You are no different. You have to know that you have a Father who wants to hold you, wipe every tear away, but he also wants you to tell him what happened. He will take care of it… let’s put our names in this verse:

19 Do not take revenge, my dear [Marsha,] but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19 (NIV)

Have you ever felt like God was unresponsive to your hurt? What makes praying for our enemies so hard? What challenges do you have? Please feel free to comment below or email us.