Bullying: An encounter meant for evil

God turned around for good

By Babs Kincaid

“you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” Genesis 50:20

My heart sunk the day my oldest son came home from school and said: “I don’t want to ride in that carpool anymore!”  My son Sam was enrolled in elementary school and I was working so carpooling seemed to be a great fit for our family. Immediately, I asked him why he wanted to withdraw from the carpool. Then I heard the words every mom dreads to hear from my son: “They made fun of me and call me names!”  So I learned he was riding to school with a mini group of girl bullies! My blood was boiling and my first reaction was to remove him from the scene of the crime! “How dare they attack an innocent person who means them no harm?” I thought. The truth was Sam was going to a Christian school, but the girls were not living after the role model of Christ. The bullies had not understood or learned the scriptures: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers…Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you…And be kind to one another,” Ephesians 4:29, 31, 32a Ending the carpool seemed like the most obvious solution, but I was checked in my spirit to pray to God for wisdom!

According to Parents Magazine, bullying can start at an early age and has possible root causes. Allan L. Beane, Ph.D., author of The Bully Free Classroom gives insight on the subject: “Research indicates that bullying behavior can start as early as age 3. Research also shows that children who are exposed to aggression on a consistent basis may imitate the behavior they observe. Such children, for instance, may live in an abusive household, witness their parents' uncontrolled anger, or feel neglected and unloved. Children must understand that bullies have a need for power and control over others and a desire to hurt people.”

“Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things

 which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

To my surprise, God gave me an astonishing and creative response to my prayers that I would never have dreamed of! Some of my favorite scriptures motivated me to dig deeper in prayer with God into my son’s dilemma: “Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 and “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 Meditate on those two scriptures to get a colorful visual of God’s brilliant ways! God told me to give Sam a pad of paper and a pencil to draw with on the ride to school! Are you kidding me, how will that ever help the situation I thought? God knew that Sam could draw and he had an extraordinary plan to capitalize on it! Even though that made no sense to me, I followed God’s instructions. Reluctantly, Sam entered the car armed with his weapons of a pad of paper and a pencil. I remember Jesus said: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” Matthew 10:16 Totally he was fully armed and dangerous to fight the bullies! Not! To my great shock, Sam came home that day with a positive report! He said the girls asked him what he was doing and when he showed them his drawings he became a hero! He had moved from jerk to genius in their eyes! Game changer! Immediately one of the girls asked him to draw them a picture of a horse! God works in mysterious ways, but profound ways that make for a winning outcome for sure!  That was the end of the carpool bullying for Sam! Yea God!!! The encounter that had been set up for evil God turned around for good! Yea God!!!

 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28