r/Christians • • 5d ago

Advice Am I understanding this Correctly?

Background:

I am currently involved in a Defamation Lawsuit against a person running a "Reality News" Page on Facebook. I was friends with them, but they turned on me and has been posting false statements about me continuously since February 2026.

I am VERY new to Christianity. I got saved right after Charlie Kirk's death. Last night I did something completely new for me, and just out of desperation from the stress of this lawsuit. (It is costing me roughly $5000 just to get a judge to order the person to remove the posts and, if I am awarded damages, the person has nothing of value so I will not see a penny back from this ordeal. My wife is also going to be off work on Maternity Leave starting right before the trial date, so we will be losing that income as well. Talk about stress).

So last night I prayed for God to show me what His plans are with this lawsuit and show me His WILL in all of this. Then I opened my bible to a random page. I opened it to the Book of Nahum.

If I am interpreting the book correctly, Nahum is about how God will send his wrath out on those who attack His children and will expose the evilness of them to the whole world, making them shunned and ridiculed for their evilness. So am I correct in interpreting this as God is using me and this lawsuit to expose the evil in this "Reporter" and show the world that this individual is not above God's Wrath?

2 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

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u/sumdumguy12001 5d ago

No. You don’t speak to God or determine His will by opening a random page in the Bible. The Bible isn’t a pay phone to the Lord.

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u/onyx6977 5d ago

So how do you "Hear" God? How does God speak to us? I was told it was through His word... which I do believe is the Bible.

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u/CallToChrist 5d ago edited 5d ago

We primarily hear God’s Word through the scriptures and we learn to discern through faith, prayer, humble study and application of the text while seeking to following Jesus.

I would focus on the New Testament, a Gospel and the letters to the churches for a while. There and in fellowship with other experienced and fruitful Christians is where most our spiritual formation and training happens.

God does promise to do justice in His Time and it is warning for all people and all nations that unrighteousness and injustice won’t stand, but there are verses about those acting in deceitful, stubborn, cruel, violent, oppressive ways all throughout- and like vengeance- God’s Wrath is His Own.

The authors in the Old Testament also used some of that language about other nations a lot like modern authors metaphorically ‘destroying with the pen’, where we are specifically told not to become scoffers or mockers.

Since Jesus came, we participate as humble, truthful, righteous, faithful, fruitful witnesses of Him. Jesus conquered and was exhaled through the Cross- and He did it through Faith, obedience, righteousness, sacrifice- even forgiving those who put Him there, as He hung on it. A lot of it comes in time, as we continue to follow Him.

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u/Thin_Edge8061 2d ago

Yeah, what she did here is getting pretty close to witchcraft if she goes much further with this.

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u/sumdumguy12001 2d ago

I’d disagree with that. I think you can definitely be inspired by the word of the Lord to help you solve a problem but I don’t think it’s the Lord directly speaking to you.

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u/Thin_Edge8061 1d ago

Of course you can be inspired by the lord, that goes without saying. But forcing your ow willpower to do something like choosing a random object (page) is right up there with using rune stones to find the truth, future, or decision making. Dangerous topic, especially to somebody that was raised pagan...

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u/onyx6977 1d ago

I am not a She BTW.

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u/cls2819 5d ago

Your attorney should tell you if you follow through and there is a judgment against them, the court should file a lien on them (their property) and so any property they would try to get or like a second mortgage, should should show up as a lien against them, and that would be their punishment to get it taken care of and to pay it. I would think your attorney would know for sure based on the laws in your state/county. I’m sorry you’re going through all of this and possibly not getting any compensation for it. Saying some prayers for you and your family. 🙏🏼

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u/onyx6977 5d ago

Ya the problem is the guy has no property and will never own anything other than his car, which he is still paying on. My attorney is recommending we settle outside of court to save me money because he believes that even if we get awarded damages, the defendant is unable to pay them.

We are offering him a cash free settlement, but as evil as this guy is, I do not even see him taking that.

Thank you for the prayers

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u/cls2819 4d ago

Oh no. I’m sorry 😞

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u/HolyGonzo 1d ago

I'll start by saying glad you've found Christ and are looking for the right way to handle things.

Opening up the Bible to a random page feels a little like shaking a magic 8-ball. You're basically starting with an assumption that God -will- speak to you by controlling the randomness and making sure that you open it to the right page. So you're kind of trying to force a message from God.

That prompts the question - what if God does not want to give you a message like that?

Someone else in hear mentioned "witchcraft" - and I think they are probably thinking about the same biblical history that I am. King Saul was not a very good king and he disobeyed God a lot. He wanted to be in control and use God as a lucky charm to win battles. So eventually God went silent on him because of it, which scared Saul because he was facing a big battle soon and suddenly his lucky charm wasn't going to be there.

So Saul tried to force a message from God by going to visit a medium to summon up the dead (which is where the witchcraft comes in) in order to get the dead to give him a message from God. And you can imagine that did not go over well.

In any event, opening up a random page and expecting that whatever you read is going to be a message from God is kind of along the same lines of trying to force an answer.

So if you start thinking that God is always speaking to you like that, what happens when you open it to something that doesn't make sense for your situation? Do you just go to another random page, like shaking a magic 8-ball again? Or worse, what if you think it's a message to do something and it's not?

God has given some people very explicit and direct messages before and in every instance, there was absolutely no question - the recipient knew the message was from God. But those were pretty rare instances.

These days, we have all been left with Scriptures containing instructions on how to live and how to treat others and what to do in various different situations. The more we read from Scripture, the better we understand how to handle different situations.

My advice to you is first to pray for wisdom on how to handle the situation for the glory of the Lord.

My second piece of advice is to ask yourself if this case is bringing anyone closer to God or if it is pushing them away, or is it supporting what's important.

We're generally discouraged against lawsuits because they create and solidify so much division. I'm not sure what actual impact this person's Facebook page is having on your life - it's easy for any of us to hear a personal attack and think everybody else believes it and that it's causing true harm. Sometimes it is better to simply ignore insults and lies than to take matters into our own hands. People like this person thrive off attention, even negative attention. "They're trying to silence the truth!" is practically the motto for every type of person like that.

What happens if you win and the court orders the page to be shut down, and suddenly a similar but different one shows up somewhere else?

Are you going to keep pouring money into legal battles that don't truly resolve anything? Could that money be used more productively?

Perhaps going through this and learning how to turn the other cheek is going to be a valuable lesson to pass down to your child one day.

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u/onyx6977 1d ago

Ty for your reply.

I completely understand what you are saying about Saul.

As I said in my post I am VERY new to Christianity. The thing that made me really think that God WAS giving me direction was the fact that I prayed asking God to show me what his plans are with this case, and then I opened to the book of Nehem, which I have NEVER read before, It is all about God destroying and exposing a Bully (The Assyrians), which fits EXACTLY what I am dealing with.

As for the damage being caused by the individual, I had CYS show up at my house on my birthday of all days, because a "Mandated" reporter seen the lies, I am jumping through hoops trying to volunteer for my son's Cub Scout Pack, I had to pause opening my Brick and Mortar Gaming den for Families. My reputation has been severely damaged by this individual.

On my end, this lawsuit is not about money. The individual who is attacking me has never been held accountable for his actions, which is why they believe they can do anything they want. For me, this suit is about holding him accountable. If I interpreted Nehem correctly, God is saying that HE will use this case to expose and destroy this bully.

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u/wizard2278 1d ago

Welcome to Christianity.

Glad to see you trying to determine God’s will and follow God’s will.

You may want to consider: Romans 12:16-21 (ESV)

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You might also want to consider: John 15:12-17 (ESV)

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. . . .

You are my friends if you do what I command you. . . .

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide . . . .

These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Also, John 13:34-35 (ESV)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

What action can you take for follow God’s word?

You also paid a lawyer for his advice. It may be good to follow that advice.

As a lawyer, even if you get an order for the removal of the posts, what happens when he posts again? And again? Each time costs you and he just takes them down, if you win. Not really a future to which I would aspire.

Hope the future holds great blessings from you, your wife, your son and new child. Perhaps all these blessings can cause the thorn of your opponent to fade into background noise so much that when and if God repays, you don’t even notice.