When most people think of offense, they think of a reaction to hurt feelings. But the way offense works in the hearts and minds of most people is far worse than that.
Offense is a soft but powerful poison that deifies- makes a god out of- human reasoning.
It says, "God wouldn't do that," to things that are not wrong, but outside of what a person is used to. Offense seeks to confine God within the brackets of culture and the court of human opinion.
Offense believes its thoughts are on par with God's thoughts and its judgements are correct.
There are people who, in his time, never could have accepted that King David would ever be called a "man after God's own heart" because of what they knew about him. Uriah. Bathsheba. No. Not him.
There were probably very devout, religious people in his time who hated King David for his entire life and believed he was far from God because they were offended by what he'd done. What he did was wrong indeed, but we know from hindsight, his sins were not the embodiment of who he was.
There were probably people during Jesus' earthly ministry who after he used spit to heal, walked away from Him. It disgusted them. Up to that point, they were on board, but spit? "That's ungodly." "That's beneath what the Divine would do."
They were offended.
Offense is when what you believe, assume, or think you know crashes against the truth and the infinite ways of God.
God prepared us, fortified us against offense by showing us over and over again He doesn't do things the way we do things. He used Rahab, a prostitute as part of His battle plan. He brought forth kings and the Jesus Himself through Ruth, a woman from an outside tribe with a horrible reputation and history.
He used Gideon, the least in his family and from the weakest clan, and made him a mighty warrior.
God works outside the realm of offense, but if you live inside of it, you will miss what He's doing.
Don't build sandcastles in your minds of thoughts around what God would do, what He wouldn't do, who He'll work through, and who He won't. Don't do it. At is essence, it is pride.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord,” Isaiah 55:8
God will do whatever He wants, the way He wants to do it inside of the truth that He is good, just, loving and merciful.
Offense is a barrier to intimacy with Him. It's a barrier to knowing Him and being able to watch Him work in the amazing ways He works.
Where offense begins, human ways take over: manipulation, control, competition, scarcity- these things thrive in the dark, dank environments of human limitation where God's limitless is rejected in favor of human logic.
I wonder if it's one of the reasons Jesus says we must become like children. Children let God be God. They see something different, weird or unexpected and marvel in it. They clap their hands and say, "Do it again!" They don't think much about the past, but tend to stay in the moment. They're aware of their dependence and don't make many assumptions.
Children are humble by nature. Faith grows well in a humble heart that isn't seeking to elevate its self, thoughts, or ways.
Everyone thinks they would have been one who loved Ruth, respected King David, been friends with Rahab, cheered on Gideon, and sat at the feet of Jesus when they walked the earth, but would have offense gotten in the way?
Would you have been one to say, "Can any good come from Nazareth?" or would your heart have burned in your chest?
Pray God burns offense out of you until you're no longer a slave to brands, appearances, pedigree, or any other shackles that blind people to what God is doing and who He is.
Take every assumption or belief to Him and to His actual Word. Let Him tell you who He is and what He's doing instead of deciding on your own.
Choose Him over your sensibilities. Choose Him over your ideas and frameworks of how things "should work."
This way, when He does a new thing, you'll see.
love, Bunmi
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
The promises of God begin and end with Yeshua, Jesus, because He is the reconciliation. If you've been walking through life on your own and want to be a child of God, you want Him by your side through it all, here's how to begin.