11“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.”
This verse sits in the middle of the section of Isaiah that extends comfort to the people of God. They may be in the middle of a crisis, their own exile from their country, but the Lord wants to bring hope into their hearts. Things won’t always be so bad. There will be times of refreshing for the faithful. Shame will come upon those who have attacked. It can be very difficult to endure when people are attacking us. Our tendency is to immediately defend ourselves. We go into fight mode. It is very difficult to absorb an attack without getting permanent injury in the process. Some of that difficulty rises from our view of justice. We want justice here and now, not in the by and by. When we don’t see immediate justice when we are being injured, we want action now, not later. But we must learn to endure and allow the Lord to bring about justice in His timing. I have had several times in my life and ministry when others were attacking me. It is very difficult to bite my tongue and not lash out. But I am getting better at absorbing false accusations and personal attacks. I am learning to view them from this longer, less time-sensitive perspective. I have seen the Lord bring about some wonderful justice in His time, but I had to be willing to wait. And I don’t like waiting!
The Arnold Journey 