Doubt or Offence

 

Now, while John the Baptizer was in prison, he heard about the wonderful deeds of the Christ, so he sent his disciples to ask him this question: “Are you really the one the prophets said would come, or should we still wait for another?”. Matt.11:2-3 (TPT)

When you read the text of the scripture above, it may appear like John was now in doubt of the same person he announced to the world. But that really was not the case, John was not in doubt of the messianic ministry of Jesus, rather he had taken offence.

Offence can be a very terrible thing, because it puts a big wedge between you and God, such that you become isolated from Him. Many times, offence comes so subtly that even the person affected may not know that offence has crept in, until it begins to manifest in many dangerous ways.

Usually, offence creeps in through unmet expectations, and at other times it can simply be as a result of false entitlement mentality. In our text, John had been imprisoned, and right there in prison, he was hearing the news of the exploits of Jesus. He probably expected Jesus to know that he was too important to be left in prison, and to intervene in some way, after all, He is the All-Powerful One. When nothing was coming forth, he sent a DM to Jesus with his message of offence.

Like John, many believers are in the place of offence. Some are offended at God for not preventing something terrible from happening to them and their loved ones, or for not meeting certain expectations. Others are offended at the people they expected something from, and who didn’t come through or who failed them in some way. But whatever the offence is or its origin, it is sure going to damage your faith if you let it go on.

You are more likely to take offence when you are overly conscious of yourself; how someone addressed you, how you were treated poorly, how God didn’t come through for you when you expected and so on. These are sinking thoughts that will lead to offence, and you must cut them off.

As I previously mentioned, there are times that this offence will manifest as simple doubt, but it is much deeper, and until the root of that offence is dealt with, your faith cannot flourish.

To avoid offence of any kind, you must learn to respond to situations gracefully. Take the highway of faith and love, learn to make excuses for people’s action, this way you will take advantage of the opportunities to be offended, and turn them into stepping stones for your faith. Take queue from the Syrophoenician woman, who approached Jesus in Matthew chapter 15. She could have become offended in Jesus, but she turned that situation into a moment of great faith and grabbed a lifetime miracle.

You miracle awaits if you will drop that offence and respond in love.

Shalom!