Mistaken Location and identity? Are You Looking for a Lion in the Ocean?

Many times, people judge others without full knowledge of who the person is. Their misjudgment makes them look for these people in the wrong places. Once, a long-time childhood friend was looking for me after many years. She went to the club and found another mutual friend. She told him that she was looking for me to no avail, and asked if he knew where to find me. The mutual friend told her, “You will never find Gift in the club. However, on Sunday if you attend church service in town, you may find her there.” She followed that advice and she found me. We were reunited after many years.

Sometimes people misjudge others because they think that the other person is doing what they are doing, or what they would do in that situation. Some judge others out of their past experiences, some do it out of jealousy and insecurities, and some judge others out of outside influence. It is sad that people rarely consult God on someone else’s real identity. Scripture says that the Holy Spirit knows the hearts of man.

Romans 8:27 “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

I was in a situation where people judged me falsely and began persecuting me for something I never did. They butchered my character, defamed me, some went to the extent of attacking me on social media publicly out of their assumptions. Some were feeding off information from malicious sources, and fortunately, many people who were camouflaged as my close friends were exposed as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Our Heavenly Father encouraged and shielded me from all their attacks. By His Spirit He asked me, “Do you look for a lion in the deep sea?” In other words, do you go deep sea diving to find a lion? He said that when people do not know you, they look for you in all the wrong places. They stay in their comfort zone, what is familiar to them and they compare you with it. They did this to Christ, they will do it to you. Christ overcame and so shall we. He also said that there is a blessing and reward for being falsely accused. I began giving thanks for my false accusers and persecutors.

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” Matthew 5:11-13 (NLT)

When God is getting ready to prepare a table in the presence of your enemies, He must separate your enemies from your friends, so that the right people will be sitting with you at your table. What did I do? I kept silent and prayed for my attackers. I love them with the love of Christ and I forgave them with the forgiveness of Christ and I asked the Father to forgive them for they do not know what they were doing.

When Jesus resurrected, the disciples and the women went to look for Him in the tomb, while He had told them that He would resurrect on the third day.

“Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Luke 24:5 (NKJV)

Sometimes, even those closest to us do not know us. I am not angry at my close friends, one in particular whom I thought knew me very well and would vouch for me, threw me under the bus on false information. As we see in the next scripture, even the disciples did not know Jesus from their wisdom.

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.” Matthew 16:13-20 (NLT).

God knows everyone. He revealed Christ to Peter. God knows everyone’s heart and He is the only reliable source of true identity and character. The person who was defaming me went to look for people I had relationships with in the past, instead of asking God to reveal me to them. They received misleading, false and exaggerated information which only made them bitter and more vengeful. No matter how much a close friend tried to tell them the truth, the negative was always easier to believe than the positive for most people, because we have been programmed to believe in bad news faster and easier than good news.

However, in my situation, there was one friend who, when they heard the rumors, went to God in prayer for revelation of the true Zawadi. He was given three dreams, all so beautiful and reassuring of my identity, character and God’s endorsement of me. That was enough for me. I was super encouraged and blessed to know that that friend did not ask me for proof, or other human beings, but they went to God.

Do you need to know who a person is? the depth of them? Ask God the Holy Spirit and He will reveal to you the truth. I asked God to show me what happened in my relationship with someone, because it never worked out however much I tried. Then I dreamt with the person removing his camouflage and showed me exactly what his disguise was and what he had been engaging in that killed our relationship. This person used to lie about many things, he finally confessed the truth, which was exactly what God had told me. God actually detailed it to the core. Do you want to know the truth? Ask the Spirit of truth, stop asking human beings.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13 (NLT)

Lions are found in the wild, not in the deep sea. Get your source of information right. Ask God.

In Christ’s love,

Gift Zawadi Love, HGIM.