Being Offended in the Pain and Suffering

WOW, I got a great email the other day. A precious sister of the ministry emailed me about my post You Poked My Heart. She spoke in it about the Lord’s pain (poking His heart) when we beat ourselves up. She proceeded to define it as being offended with self. Oh this is so powerful. I realized that when I am in pain, especially when I mess up, I can become offended with myself. It is so easy to be offended and not actually do the work to discover the Lord in and through the pain.

When Circumstances Tempt Me to Quit

All of us can falter and believe our God is being unfair or unjust in our lives. Our circumstances can often speak louder than His Word. This is just human nature. No, it is not the nature of our spirit man, but it is the temptation laid at our doorstep by the devil. Satan says, “You’re in pain (or difficulty) and God just doesn’t care!”

While living from our heart and in reality, we’re able to be influenced by our emotions, especially in hardship or suffering. And when our emotions take the reins of our lives, we can begin to turn on God. Our Father becomes the enemy because HE who has power is not using that power to effect a change in my circumstances. Hence, I deduce, He doesn’t care. Give anyone a healthy dose of pain or suffering and this is what we are called to fight. We have to proclaim, “God is good, and right, and perfect…my circumstances are not the determiner of my reality—He is!”

Not Being Offended in Circumstances

This all reminds me of the verse Matthew 11:6 – “Blessed is he who is not offended in Me.” Why did Christ have to say this to John the Baptist, who was in prison and about to be beheaded? Because God can be offensive. Our suffering simply can cause us to become offended with God. Blessed is he who is not offended.

If we define our reality by our current circumstances, we are set up to be offended. This is why God requires faith to please Him. You remember that post? Faith trusts that God is good, regardless of my circumstances. And this is why it is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is the abandoning of self upon the trust that God is who He says He is. Faith rejects that which is seen for that which is promised. And without faith, you will be offended.

Finding That Faith on Earth

Luke quotes Jesus at the end of the parable of the unjust judge, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on earth?” What is that faith? It is the faith that is not offended with Him. It is the faith that overcomes our propensity to believe Him to be unjust, unfair, and uninvolved. And when we falter and become hurt with God, we have to come to God and keep on coming. We prove with our actions that we will believe, because He is the Answer.

I am standing, praying, and receiving that FAITH so that He will find this faith in me. Our God is the fulfillment of His promise, and He knows our beginning to our end. My grasp of reality based on a snapshot of existence is not faith or even truth. It is just a changing circumstance which will pass away like the clouds of the sky.

And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.
Matthew 11:6 AMPC