The Offense
I've always been easily hurt emotionally and quick to take offense. And I'm not alone;most of my family is that way.The difference is that I'm the only Christian,and if I want to sustain a close relationship with God,I must remain free from any offense.This has taken most of my life and continues to be a problem for me,but one that the Lord is helping me with,just like He helps me with all of my problems.
Without going into detail,there's a situation I'm dealing with right now that,surprisingly,has created opportunities for me to get even closer to God and to my family.Whether it will continue to do so is up to me,because I'm positive that God wants to take everything the enemy throws at me and knit it into a plan for His glory and my good.
I've heard and read stories of Christians who opened their Bibles to a random page and received a rhema word from God.That happened to me the other day when my favorite,well-worn Bible fell open to the famous passage in Ephesians about spiritual warfare.The words leapt out at me: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood".Satan's greatest power,next to getting people to believe lies,is to remain hidden and cause offense to escalate between any two human beings,to the extent,he hopes,of the eventual death of one or both people and their descent into hell. I'm sure that just tickles him silly.For many years I held unforgiveness against my earthly father because of deep-seated hurts he inflicted.The other day,God showed me that even though I forgave Dad (and,praise God,He did too),the open wound was still chafing at me and making my current situation worse.I knew I had to,if possible,try to put those things out of my mind and allow God to heal my heart and spirit.What Dad had actually done was to "break" me emotionally.He'd been badly beaten and emotionally abused by his mother when he was just a boy.He seemed to enjoy wounding people emotionally (and in some cases physically,though not with me).It took a very long time for me to allow God to show me how desperately unhappy Dad was for all but the last two years of his life.
As a Christian since 1983,I struggled with this for years and years.I can still remember the very worst thing he ever said to me,though of course I won't "rehearse" it here,suffice it to say it violated something very close to my heart.For years,it seemed,a "cassette" of his hate-filled words reverberated in my mind.Of course it wasn't just me,it was my Mom and siblings too.Mom died young,and the five of us offspring have all dealt with the pain inflicted by Dad in ways as different as we are.My way was to give my heart to Jesus Christ and to pray to the heavenly Father that He would heal all of those wounds.But first He had to help me get rid of the "infection" of bitterness,resentment and outright hatred I felt for Dad.
Without going into detail,there's a situation I'm dealing with right now that,surprisingly,has created opportunities for me to get even closer to God and to my family.Whether it will continue to do so is up to me,because I'm positive that God wants to take everything the enemy throws at me and knit it into a plan for His glory and my good.
I've heard and read stories of Christians who opened their Bibles to a random page and received a rhema word from God.That happened to me the other day when my favorite,well-worn Bible fell open to the famous passage in Ephesians about spiritual warfare.The words leapt out at me: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood".Satan's greatest power,next to getting people to believe lies,is to remain hidden and cause offense to escalate between any two human beings,to the extent,he hopes,of the eventual death of one or both people and their descent into hell. I'm sure that just tickles him silly.For many years I held unforgiveness against my earthly father because of deep-seated hurts he inflicted.The other day,God showed me that even though I forgave Dad (and,praise God,He did too),the open wound was still chafing at me and making my current situation worse.I knew I had to,if possible,try to put those things out of my mind and allow God to heal my heart and spirit.What Dad had actually done was to "break" me emotionally.He'd been badly beaten and emotionally abused by his mother when he was just a boy.He seemed to enjoy wounding people emotionally (and in some cases physically,though not with me).It took a very long time for me to allow God to show me how desperately unhappy Dad was for all but the last two years of his life.
As a Christian since 1983,I struggled with this for years and years.I can still remember the very worst thing he ever said to me,though of course I won't "rehearse" it here,suffice it to say it violated something very close to my heart.For years,it seemed,a "cassette" of his hate-filled words reverberated in my mind.Of course it wasn't just me,it was my Mom and siblings too.Mom died young,and the five of us offspring have all dealt with the pain inflicted by Dad in ways as different as we are.My way was to give my heart to Jesus Christ and to pray to the heavenly Father that He would heal all of those wounds.But first He had to help me get rid of the "infection" of bitterness,resentment and outright hatred I felt for Dad.
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