"Blessed is he who is not offended at me." is Jesus' reply to a disallusioned, suffering, isolated man; a man who had served the Lord faithfully, and even more... a man who was suffering because of following the Lord. (Matt. 11:5-15)
Jesus was healing multitudes of unbelievers. "The blind see, the deaf hear, the poor are hearing the good news." But seeing and hearing Jesus do these things for others didn't change the situation he was in. He was still sitting alone in his darkness, seeking assurance, asking Jesus "Are you the savior I was waiting for, or should I look elsewhere?" But for this faithful suffering follower, Jesus would do nothing. He would send him only this word, "Blessed are you if you are not offended at me in the way I handle your life." This is a difficult test that those who follow the Lord must sometimes face.
How can we put this in perspective? First, we must realise that the whole of the Christian life is found in remaining in our union with Jesus Christ. Our Lord was crusified and raised in order to become a "life giving spirit" 1 Cor. 15; in other words, Jesus is now our indwelling source of spiritual life, making us partakers of the divine nature. Our entire Christian life consists in practically participating in the indwelling life of Christ to share that life with others.
What is more, God now handles our life for this one all consuming purpose: that we who posses the indestructible eternal life of Christ within us may be conformed to His glorious image by practically living in our spiritual union with Christ. Year by year, month by month, day by day, even moment by moment, God is hand picking our circumstances and handling our lives for this one purpose. Which means this: Everything in our lives is working FOR our practical communion with Christ and the display of that life for His glory... not against it.
So what's our problem? I would suggest two things, that are closely related: 1) We don't live by the Spirit. We don't abide in our spiritual union with Christ crying, "Abba, Father". 2) We develop reasonable expectations of how God should treat us because we are his children. The offense surfaces in a multitude of ways: "If I were truly saved, this wouldn't happen to me..." or "I must have missed God's will when I married him, or our marraige wouldn't be like this", or "How could God allow that to happen to me?" or "I know God heals, but why isn't He healing me?", etc. The troubling thing is, all our offenses can seem reasonable, at least to our mind, so it's very important that we understand the heart and ways of our heavenly Father.
God's word to us in every trouble is this, "I AM GOD. I have ways and purposes that do not center around you individually. I am with you and am using even your sufferings to reveal my glory. I am aware of your suffering and pain. I take no delight in the pain, but take great delight in the union of love we share that is so powerfully displayed as you wait for me. I know you have questions and expectations of me I haven't met. Here's my word to you. Surrender your expectations of me to act according to your plans. Trust in me. Cling only to me and relinguish your expecations and evaluation of me. But only remain in your union with me; believe that I AM WHO I SAY I AM; do not take offense at my dealings in your life... and you WILL be blessed! I am working for your blessing, now and forever. Believe that."
Like any good parent, God does not hesitate to act for our own good, even when that good purpose means allowing cold, dark, isolating circumstances with only a word, "Blessed is he who is not offended at me." What parent doesn't have to offend their children out of love... even if they kick and scream?
Jesus was healing multitudes of unbelievers. "The blind see, the deaf hear, the poor are hearing the good news." But seeing and hearing Jesus do these things for others didn't change the situation he was in. He was still sitting alone in his darkness, seeking assurance, asking Jesus "Are you the savior I was waiting for, or should I look elsewhere?" But for this faithful suffering follower, Jesus would do nothing. He would send him only this word, "Blessed are you if you are not offended at me in the way I handle your life." This is a difficult test that those who follow the Lord must sometimes face.
How can we put this in perspective? First, we must realise that the whole of the Christian life is found in remaining in our union with Jesus Christ. Our Lord was crusified and raised in order to become a "life giving spirit" 1 Cor. 15; in other words, Jesus is now our indwelling source of spiritual life, making us partakers of the divine nature. Our entire Christian life consists in practically participating in the indwelling life of Christ to share that life with others.
What is more, God now handles our life for this one all consuming purpose: that we who posses the indestructible eternal life of Christ within us may be conformed to His glorious image by practically living in our spiritual union with Christ. Year by year, month by month, day by day, even moment by moment, God is hand picking our circumstances and handling our lives for this one purpose. Which means this: Everything in our lives is working FOR our practical communion with Christ and the display of that life for His glory... not against it.
So what's our problem? I would suggest two things, that are closely related: 1) We don't live by the Spirit. We don't abide in our spiritual union with Christ crying, "Abba, Father". 2) We develop reasonable expectations of how God should treat us because we are his children. The offense surfaces in a multitude of ways: "If I were truly saved, this wouldn't happen to me..." or "I must have missed God's will when I married him, or our marraige wouldn't be like this", or "How could God allow that to happen to me?" or "I know God heals, but why isn't He healing me?", etc. The troubling thing is, all our offenses can seem reasonable, at least to our mind, so it's very important that we understand the heart and ways of our heavenly Father.
God's word to us in every trouble is this, "I AM GOD. I have ways and purposes that do not center around you individually. I am with you and am using even your sufferings to reveal my glory. I am aware of your suffering and pain. I take no delight in the pain, but take great delight in the union of love we share that is so powerfully displayed as you wait for me. I know you have questions and expectations of me I haven't met. Here's my word to you. Surrender your expectations of me to act according to your plans. Trust in me. Cling only to me and relinguish your expecations and evaluation of me. But only remain in your union with me; believe that I AM WHO I SAY I AM; do not take offense at my dealings in your life... and you WILL be blessed! I am working for your blessing, now and forever. Believe that."
Like any good parent, God does not hesitate to act for our own good, even when that good purpose means allowing cold, dark, isolating circumstances with only a word, "Blessed is he who is not offended at me." What parent doesn't have to offend their children out of love... even if they kick and scream?
After we've made the journey into discovering how to live in union with Christ, our great temptation is to refuse to relinguish expectations, to take offense at man and God.(Remember, it is God who directs the afairs of men. Don't forget that John was in prison because a man put him there. John expected this, but what he was having difficulties with what that and Christ Jesus himself was leaving him in prison for now.) We all need eyes to see that only from the vantage point of the cross and ressurection and our eternal glory with Christ can our present circumstances make sense. We need a living faith to embrace our life in ETERNITY in the midst of our temporal circumstances. If we will simply "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all our anxiety upon Him, because He cares for us" and get out of our fleshly reasonings and grumblings by taking our stand with the Spirit, and cry, "Abba, Father" until that attitude of trust, love, surrender, hope, and fellowship saturate our vision of life, we will indeed be blessed, unoffended and abiding in Christ.
God's vision of the Chrisitian life for us is eternal fellowship in union with Christ. We can partake of that even now no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in by taking our stand in our union with Christ and crying "Abba, Father". As we do so, we will experience the witness of the Spirit in our spirit confirming our sonship with God, which thereby allows us to have the practical enjoyment that we have become heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. We will have this blessed fulness of heart... if we suffer together with Him. Saint, don't suffer apart from Christ. Give up your offenses at God's handling of your life. Surrender your unmet expectations. If the hand of God has allowed suffering in your life, suffer together with Christ that you may have the "fellowship of sharing in His sufferings." We must trust God in our sufferings and seek to find Him in fellowship in the midst of them.
God is ruling over our circumstances and working in them to make us like Christ. We follow a Lord who went to the cross and requires us to join Him on that road. The question for us is "Are you offended at Him?" Beloved, "Blessed is he who is not offended." Amen.
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