People literally spend hours on twitter, harvesting clapback! Lol
We love savage clapback, don’t we? And they come in different shapes and sizes. The unexpected ones, the sarcastic ones, the humorous ones, the complex ones and so on. Clapback are typically crafted in response to a statement made by someone else, usually a critical statement.
In today’s devotional, we’ll be learning how to craft the best of clapback. Well, this time, it won’t be directed at other people (that would be unkind). But I want you to know that the enemy is always making statements about your life; statements designed to make you feel a certain way about yourself, your life and the purpose of God for your life. He then uses your experiences as a veil through which he projects those statements into your thoughts. That is why a lot depends on your interpretation of those experiences of yours. It’s important you’re not ignorant of the devices of the enemy. You can’t be naïve, you’ve got to have your pouch, full of clapback!
Your experiences, as real and present as they may be, are still not quite as powerful as your interpretation of them. Many experiences don’t mean much, but the interpretations people give them tend to exalt them way above measure. In the same vein, some folks have passed through hell and high waters, but fail to look anywhere close to what they have been through. The most probable guess for such people who defy the prediction of their experiences is that they chose their own interpretation of those experiences, rather than allow those experiences define them. They refused to become victims of their experiences. They chose their clapback!
“Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, (though) the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are cattle in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the (victorious) God of my Salvation!”- Habakkuk 3:17–18 AMPC
Imagine you were the owner of these Fig, Vine, Olive, Field and Flock Enterprises. The Fig tree refused to blossom, the Vine refused to produce, the Olive refused to press, the Field refused to grow and the Flock refused to yield… How on earth are you supposed to survive? Every aspect of your life looks back at you and literally has nothing to offer but emptiness, gloom and despair. Imagine such a situation. Everyone talks about having multiple streams of income, this guy had 5! The Fig, the Vine, the Olive, the Field and the Flock. But guess what? Everything failed at the same time.
Have you ever been in a situation where everyone you hoped would help you out, failed to live up to your expectation of them? You know the confidence you have when you have at least 5 sure options? Even the laws of probability insures your hope! You think to yourself “at least, all 5 cannot fail… at least not at the same time!” But for this man, everything failed at once!
The only thing consistent with the picture I just painted is depression. But here we see the most unorthodox response to this dire situation; a situation that swallows its victims alive; one that people never recover from.
Here we see an outlier, someone with a whole different way of seeing and interpreting situations and circumstances. Someone who refuses to follow the dictation of his situations and circumstances. Someone who chose his clap back!
This guy chooses to rejoice! What??? Yes, you heard me. It would have been impressive enough if he simply stayed quiet and refused to say anything instead of cursing, nagging or complaining. It would been miraculous enough if he prayed rather than sighing… but for the individual going through this much contradiction in his life to literally rise above it and begin to rejoice… now that is something truly supernatural.
That is the power of the right interpretation.
Your experience, no matter how demoralising, is still weaker than your interpretation of it. That is why it really doesn’t matter what you have been through, you can rise above it with grace and strength. In that moment of apparent weakness, the Joy of the Lord is your Strength. In those moments, you’re not rejoicing because you feel joyful, excited or happy about what is happening, you’re actually rejoicing because you would be crying if you were not rejoicing. That’s how we draw strength, vitality, inspiration and stability in this Kingdom. Joy is literally our strength! The man responded in Joy rather than in Tears.
In Christ, we have the power to choose our interpretations!
The moment Joseph’s brothers recognized him, they considered themselves dead! They couldn’t imagine any other way Joseph could treat them. The experience they subjected Joseph to only turns men into vengeful, offended and bitter predators, staying alive only for the hope of revenge. They couldn’t even rationalise forgiveness. But what they didn’t realise was that Joseph chose his interpretation of all he had been through, rather than become a victim of it, Joseph knew too well the power of an Interpretation. His interpretation revealed the fate of the butler and the baker. One was promoted, the other executed!
Your interpretation of what you go through is either promoting or demoting you.
For the dreams the butler and baker dreamed, the interpretations were fixed. Joseph only discerned them by the spirit, he couldn’t determine their outcomes. But when it comes to the experiences of your life, you are ultimately going in the direction of the interpretation you give to those circumstances. Much like the story of Joseph before the palace; how he was treated, sold into slavery, lied against, imprisoned, etc. He could have become a victim of all those experiences, but he chose his clapback!
“As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.” – Genesis 50:20 AMPC.
What an interpretation!
He chose to join up with God’s interpretation about his situation rather than flow along the path predicted by his experiences. Yes, statistics may say one thing, but your life is beyond a micro data.
Statistics have no hold on you. If doesn’t matter what the stats have said about your type of experiences, you can choose your interpretation and therefore your living reality. Glory to God forever!
This season, the devil will try to manipulate a reaction off you. Reactions of fear, discouragement and doubt. He will attempt to do so by tampering with the environment, but please don’t be deceived. Be on your Joy alert! Let him send his armies of Sambalats and Tobiases all he wants, you stay ready your responses. Those hindrances from hell will be overwhelmed by the overflowing joy coming from your spirit. You are more than a conqueror. We don’t bow out in shame in this genealogy, we rise unhindered by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are not victims, we are Victors!
We are ever determined to keep our reaction steady, even in the face of contradictions because where we come from, we choose our clapback! Hallelujah!!!
I hope this blessed your heart.
Have a productive week ahead.
Dami Oguntunde
@damioguntunde