In a confrontation my natural recourse is that of words and thinking. I always desire to bring sides together seeking resolution. What happens when the powerful adversary has no interest in listening?
I consider my son’s gerbil facing my daughter’s cat. The cat has invaded the gerbil’s cage and is clearly in the wrong. For the gerbil to stand against the cat and explain the wrongness of its cause is just to invite being eaten. The only recourse for the gerbil is to hide and wait in hope for the arrival of a human, the master of both, to rescue.
So, in my on-going struggle with pride the Lord challenges my confidence in words and intellect. There are times when a well-argued case is just going to bring trouble. The only way forward in such a case is to trust that God has all in hand and not be driven from God and His righteousness by worry and threats.
Isaiah was told to tell a threatened king – “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smouldering stubs of firewood because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. … Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: It will not take place, it will not happen.” Isaiah 7: 4&7.