Sister Synergy

What's the best way to stand up to a bully?

When we were young the saying was "sticks and stones may break my bones but words would never hurt me" but this isn't really true.

My Dad told me how he dealt with one particular bully when he was little.

He was 9 years old and this 14 year old boy used to pick on him and his friend. It was the usual verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and when necessary, this kid would put the boots to my Dad and his friend.

Then one day the bully came across my dad and his friend together and started in on them again. Something made these little boys decide they weren't going to take it anymore or maybe they decided that together they could take this guy. They fought back together and ended up laying a beating on a kid 5 years older. He never bothered either of them again after that day.

I can remember an episode from my own experience but its not as generous to my vanity.

I was probably about the same age and I was playing at a neighbourhood friend's house. For some reason his older brother started picking on me. So I left but he followed me home. When I got to the back gate that led into my yard I thought I was safe. He had other plans and went to follow me into my yard. This really concerned me because this guy was probably about 17 years old and seemed to wish me ill.

Anyhow, unbeknownst to both of us my sister, who was about the same age as my pursuer was in our backyard and had heard and seen him chase me home.

She walked right up to him and this new threat made him pause in the back alley. He lost the appetite to chase me any further and decided to berate me from the safety of his side of the fence. He got a few words out before she cut him off. From that point on she did all the talking and he did all the listening. I don't remember what was said but I can see her standing in the backyard like it was yesterday and I remember gaining some amount of pleasure from observing the exchange.

I can be a loner. I like to help other people but won't ask for help unless its offered. I tend to fight my battles alone and not ask for prayer. I wonder how effective that is? In the military, soldiers fight in platoons, battalions, regiments, divisions and army corps and at ground level, infantry soldiers usually fight in groups of two or three.

Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

What I find interesting about this scripture is that it repeatedly talks about the synergistic principle of two working together until the sudden mention of three at the end. Is this what Jesus meant when he said “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” - Matthew 18:19-20