Enduring Taunting

I called the car shop to ask if they could do an oil change for me in the next few minutes. The mechanic said sure, come right away. So I skedaddled to the shop and said, "I'm here for the oil change!"
"Oh," he said mournfully, "We are fresh out of oil."
I was a little angry, truth be told.
"But I just called! You told me to come right away!" I said, fortunately with a calm and not too obviously ticked-off voice.
"I'm teasing you," he said.
I am so gullible. I hate this about me. It happens all the time. People tease me and I don't get it.
"Oh, hahah. I guess I should have known..."
In fact, I believe the same mechanic teased me in the same way last month...and I fell for it then, too.

I don't like being teased, but it is nothing like what I endure at the Abortion Mill. Last time I was there, a young woman was walking to her car. Right before the abortion, the women must bring their purses back to their car. The abortionist won't let them bring phones back to the killing room since sometimes friends text the women, and they change their minds. I began pleading with her not to have the abortion.
"Shut your face!" she shouted, "Not one word or I am going to punch you."
"God loves you anyway," I said, despite her threat, "And He loves that baby inside you too."
She didn't punch me, thank goodness, but turned away. I knew her anger was born of grief and guilt, even if she didn't know it yet.

Taunting is as old as mankind. Look at Psalm 42, if you don't believe me. The psalmist is in despair because of the taunts of his enemies. He is in apparently distressful circumstances because his enemies taunt him by asking where his God is. Sadly, belief in God does not guarantee or insure that we will not face hardship. The psalmist knows this, but nonetheless, the taunting is like a deadly wound to him. Fortunately, he knows that despite the turmoil in his life, and despite the pain of the taunts, his hope and faith in God will ultimately be worth it. His eye is on eternity, which is sometimes the only way to endure what the world brings our way.

Meanwhile, I am writing myself a reminder about this teasing mechanic so that next oil change, I will not fall for it again.

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Psalm 42: 10-11
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
 while they say to me all the day long,
"Where is your God?"
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.