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For Those Who Endure Slander: God Honors the Faithful
Cassandra Boyson
www.cassandraboyson.com
It can feel so unjust that as we desire to stand in the light and live in Christ-likeness, we are forced to endure persecution without retaliation. People may gossip and slander you, yet your conscience will not allow you to inform others of their evil-doing. For one, you do not want to commit the same sin. Secondly, it would appear as if you are the gossip and would only seem to serve as proof of what has been said about you.
Though it seems so unjust to face such slander with very little means to defend yourself, your hands are tied. Your only choice in your desire to remain faithful to the Love of your life is to endure it without resorting to the ways of the enemy. So you can do nothing but watch it take place, laying it at the feet of Christ.
For months and even years, you wait upon God to prove your innocence. It begins to seem as if He has not seen it or doesn't care. The slander against you persists and all you can do is keep walking your walk the best way you know how.
But this is what the Lord desires to make clear to you: He will honor you. He has not forgotten and a crown awaits you as you continue to walk in faithfulness.
God's Faithfulness Revealed
During my high school years, I endured a great deal of persecution and slander from various sources. These individuals desired to destroy my reputation and to steal from me every
friendship I had or might have had. For years, they mostly succeeded. Many who had known me some time fell into the same trap as those I had just met. They believed lies and spread them, even adding their own in the
process.
As a young woman inexperienced in the ways of the world - especially in such persecution against my reputation - I knew to do nothing but lay my lot at the feet of my God. In faithfulness to Him, I could not
retaliate in a similar fashion. I felt so out of control. In my longing to honor my relationship with the Father, my hands were tied! And they remained so for years as rumors persisted and many believed me to be something
far from the truth.
I felt as many others have, wondering where God was. Why wasn't He defending me? Why was He letting this happen?
But by my senior year, God's faithfulness had been revealed time and
again. The corrupt fruit of every one of those who had contributed to the attempt to destroy my reputation had been made visible to even the greatest of doubters. My reputation was not only restored to me, but, all glory to
God, was made shining and brilliant. My fruit was proven pure while theirs had led them down a path of destruction.
When it came time for the student body of my christian high-school to vote for their homecoming king
and queen, they were encouraged to select individuals who displayed good character and Christ-likeness. Despite the years in which the enemy had worked to destroy me, God proved His faithfulness was so much grander, for I
was crowned homecoming queen.
This was done before those who had attempted to harm me or believed the slander spread about me, bringing to mind the great truth is Psalm 23:5, "You treat me to a feast while my
enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows." (CEV)
But after all these years, what can a homecoming crown give me when I am graduated and so far removed from the
high-school scene? It serves as a sweet token of love from my Daddy God. It is a reminder of His faithfulness to the faithful. It is proof He sees it all and He does not forget.
If you have suffered slander and
persecution, know the Lord has not forgotten you and He has plans to place you upon a throne. He crowns those who have endured pain and grief but have clung to Him instead of falling into a similar snare.
To those
who choose to stand in the light even when it appears to all else you are corrupt, to those who have endured years of slander and nearly every friend is lost, God sees it all. And He will not forget; He does not forget. He will crown you before those who have doubted. He will raise you up above the persecution of your enemies and proclaim you are His beloved whom He has honored!
Psalm 27:2-3 and 5-6 says, "When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident...For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Then
my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me." (NIV)
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