I want to live above the world
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled
For faith has caught the joyful sound
The song of saints on higher ground
Charles Hutchinson Gabriel
During the heat of Conflict people say. “I saw red.” “Boy was I ________.” “I lost my mind.” “I was shaking.” There are numerous phrases to describe the physiological response that happens to us when we get attacked. For most of us, unless we are heavily medicated, we get a tightness in the chest, a red face, and a surge of emotion during a personal attack. Although we can be quite calm when others are being attacked, our emotions go haywire when we endure even the slightest slap. Calm and rational folks get “psycho.” Stoics become Divas. You want to really get to know someone? Watch them get attacked. Ironically personal attacks are beneficial for us. They have the fuel to take us Higher Ground.
Of course, these attacks are not physical. That would be too easy. They are subtle and behind the scenes. They form without your knowledge, and grow in secret pots fed by envy, jealousy, and the need for self-approval. They are not built on truth. Gossip about you becomes your friends and neighbor’s entertainment. They tear you open with their judgments and parade you around like a clown. Unlike a courtroom, there are no laws or boundaries to the attack. You’re not allowed to call witnesses. There is no Judge. The truth is blurry. No doubt you will lose some friends. Lies make great Movies. Now you are the main character.
Getting together, hashing out differences and resolving the conflict is a great strategy. Problem is your attacker doesn’t operate like that. She is a guerilla war fighter that cuts off your supply lines and leaves you alone and wandering how much destruction she has caused. By stirring you to anger, she has affected your entire life. Marriage, finances, career, etc. Some will go nuclear and hire a lawyer for vindication. Others will retreat in isolation. Still some will participate in an ugly playground fight where all your friends circle around get entertained like The Romans did in the Coliseum.
So how do we as Christians handle these attacks? For many, we just go to counseling. For others, there are many books written about such attacks, and multiple sermons on forgiveness and love. All of this material is worthwhile. Just know that God gives you enemies for a reason. Enemies reveal your character. Otherwise your life is like a boxer that never fights a match. Like a football team that practices and never plays a game. Like an artist without a brush, a musician without an album. When your enemy surfaces, so your story is told. Will it be a story of revenge? A tragedy? Comedy? Or a story in which the protagonist is made better by friction, and triumphs through trial? Trust the attacks to take you to Higher Ground. Just like the attack on God through the cross leads us to heaven, so your dilemma will serve as a platform to lead others to the power of God, the meaning of love, and the sweet aroma of truth. Join the likes of Winston Churchill, FDR, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King. Let your enemies push to make you better. Let them serve as fuel for improvement. Most of all don’t ever waste an attack. It has the capacity to take you to Higher Ground.
