Bible Women: Peninah and The Uses of Our Adversaries

And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 1Sa 1:6  

Critics Hurt but They Are Profitable

I ran long distances in my mind because of critics. I panted. I got spent. I choked on my tears.

That was in 2013 when I started blogging. But I left quickly the same year when the pelting of stones refused to relent.

So I took leave of the social media for seven years. I returned last year, haltingly, but after a few attempts, God gave me a hard skin.

But even between now and then, many times I have thought to quit. And truly only the grace of God has kept me going until this far!

So today I want to encourage young writers and preachers not to give up. For truly God is faithful. He gives more and more and more strength! As it is written, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa 40:30-31).  

Again be encouraged by these words God spoke to prophet Ezekiel, “And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house” (Eze 2:6).  

This truism is true. You will be damned for keeping silent, and you will be damned for speaking! So better speak!

The Lesson of Wilderness and the Promised Land

God did not give the children of Israel the Promised Land in Palestine in one fell swoop.

Rather God asked them to fight for it. Yes he assured them of victory, but he also taught them that victory does not come easily.

They needed to feel the lance of the spear. They needed to see blood. That was the baptism of the wilderness.

Yes enemies may hurt until we bleed. But even more they teach us how to become tough warriors – even prayer warriors!

That is what Saul’s hatred taught king David. It made him a tough warrior. It made him a poet and a prophet!

And that is what Peninah’s verbal blows did to Hannah. They kept her on her knees. They gave her a testimony which lives to this day.

Enemies make us war veterans.

So have you reached your Promised Land yet? Then get ready for war! And even after getting the victory don’t rest at ease. But start preparing for the next one, because it will come!

So get your pens ready. Get your Bibles out. Start praying now!

Practice Makes Perfect

So too Solomon advises his son in the Proverbs not to get tired of being corrected. Because that is the sure path to wisdom, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth” (Pro 3:11-12).  

Enemies strengthened Nehemiah. They will strengthen you too. But always carry a sword beside you. A sword is the word of God.

To Self-Suppress is to Choose Death

I have learnt two things: there are things we learn when tears are forming, and there are things we learn after the tears have dried up.

And by God’s grace I have gained immensely from both periods!

You can’t evade them. You can’t kill them. But you can pray for your enemies. And that is how we learn to live with them. They are the bricks God uses to plant us firmly in the soil of this earth.

But to shut up is to invite a terrible death.

So persist my dear and never give up. Satan would love to silence you forever. Nothing gives him so much joy. He will magnify your mistakes. You will preach a sermon and hate yourself for a week. Some days you will swear never to blog or preach again. That is his voice, so mark it.

You will make glaring mistakes. You will speak inappropriately. You will huff and pant. But the secret is not to stop. The secret is to write more or preach more!

You can only learn through mistakes. You can only learn through practice. Criticism gives you grit. You will fail so many times until lack of fear becomes natural.

Yet it is not I but God working through me. And for that he uses our harshest critics! Thank God and pray for them daily. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Mat 5:16). 

No, we don’t stop to sing just because it is dark. But we sing even more loudly until that music lifts us off from this body of death to his loving arms.

Many blogs I wrote in the past have been overtaken. I now know better than I did then. And even in future I will look back at what I’m writing now and know I could have done better.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psa 90:12. 

LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Psa 39:4.  

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Ecc 9:10.  

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. Joh 9:4.   

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2Co 4:8-9.