Help! I'm being Provoked!

definition “Provoke”: To arouse or to call forth a feeling or an action. To incite anger. To stir up purposefully. To provide the needed stimulus for something.

Lately, people have been provoking me from all sides. I’ve been getting prodded and poked, deceived, challenged, mis-understood, mis-represented and more. It’s just one of those seasons to make it through...

The word “provoke(d)” is in the Bible dozens of times, mostly in the Old Testament. The primary use is that the Children of God often provoked Him to anger.
In Deuteronomy, God warned His people not to provoke the descendants of Lot or of Esau because He had given them their land and was not going to allow Israel to take it.
We see the word in a limited number of places in the New Testament. Both Galations and Ephesians warn us not to provoke our children to anger or to discouragement.

The focus for this discussion are two additional verses:

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 (NIV)
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.

When we allow ourselves to be provoked to anger, we miss out on God’s “surprise endings.” When we take matters into our own hands, especially from an angle of anger, we can change the course of the best God has for us. It is always better to allow the Lord to defend us rather then to defend ourselves.

Verse 10 shows us what scripture often points out, that the present and the future is always better then the former (latter). I absolutely believe that it is next to sin to believe that things used to be better, particularly regarding the Church. God’s Word says that the Church is better today then it has ever been in the history of the world and that it will be better tomorrow. Don’t allow people to provoke us into being dissatisfied with the way things are and that God intend for this season of our lives and of history.

The next Scripture deals with Hannah, the mother of the Judge and Prophet Samuel. She obviously ended up being a very blessed woman and mother though she began in a barren state:

1 Samuel 1:6-7 (NIV)
6 And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.

Hannah was like us... she was not perfect. But she was consistent and endured the provocation of her rival and continued to trust God to birth something great in her. The story goes that she dedicated Samuel to the Lord and gave Him to the care of the temple, and that she had other Children as well. God honored her.

My point today is that if we will not be discouraged when we are provoked, if we will not fight back, if we will not take matters into our own hands but will keep going to the House of the Lord, even if as in Hannah’s case that is where the worst “provoking” occurs, God will reward us.

As usual, our reaction to an attack determines our destiny! As the scripture says, let us keep anger out of our lap!

One of my favorite preachers often uses the word “provoke” in a positive way. His name is Pastor Ray Llarena! You may have heard him use it. He often says, “you must learn to provoke yourself to worship God whether you feel like worshipping God or not!” He has many variations of this and they are all good and in line with the definition of what it means to provoke. Let us instead of being stirred up by the enemy to anger, instead be stirred up to worship and let our faith arise, knowing that He will be faithful to grant us wonderful and blessed surprise endings when we trust fully in Him!