Take No Offense
By Elin Henderson
“May Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
(NKJV)
In today’s world, our culture of
political correctness has caused us to become easily-offended people. Today’s
social media is a modern-day circus of offense. One person’s actions or speech
can cause an uproar in the rest of the community (even world)!
Given our extreme tendency for offense
amongst our fellow humans, I wonder how quick at times we are to perceive when
we are offended with God! As shocking as that sounds, multiple times I
have found myself offended with Him. I had prayed about and anticipated a
relationship to go in one direction and it went in the total opposite direction.
I was ready to enter through a clearly open door, when He abruptly closed it. I
was praying for the healing of a loved one, and they passed away. Where was God
in all of this? Why did He let me down? I had faith, I believed, but He didn’t
stand up to His end of the bargain.
If all of us were honest, we would
admit that we have all stood and shook our fist a time or two before our Lord,
offended at His actions or lack of action. It is a human tendency that I am
sure He is well aware of and used to by now.
If anyone had the “right” to be
offended with God it was Job. The bottom literally fell out of his life. He had
a choice to make: to choose offense or to trust in a sovereign, loving God. He
chose the latter and cried out through the pain, “Though He may slay me, yet
will I trust in Him…” Jesus also chose
to not allow offense to enter into the equation, when at Gethsemane He cried,
“Not my will, Father, but Yours be done!”
Oh, may this faith permeate deep
into our hearts, so that no matter what comes our way, we can rest and say, “I
take no offense with You, Father. You know me best and you are working all
things together for good. Your will be done.”
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
Can you
think of an instance where you were offended by God’s leading in your life? What
did you do about it?
2.
Who else
in Scripture could we learn this lesson of “Take no offense” from? (Here are a few to start with: Abraham,
Joseph, David. Use the concordance at the back of your Bible to look them up.)
FURTHER
READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin
Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as church planters
with Ethnos 360 in Mozambique, Africa.
Elin is mother to eighteen-year-old Callie and fifteen-year-old Elias.
