30/03/2024
This was so good for me so I thought I would share it too🙏❤️
A local pastor posted this the other day:
“Be careful of the spirit of offense. It hears things that were never said. It perceives an insult when none was given.”
I mention this because I suspect I am not the only one dealing with an onslaught of irritations from people around me…those I know (and love) personally, those who are public figures, strangers in stores, etc. I believe many of us are in the throes of that particular class with the Lord right now, and the homework is tough! But if we can be easily offended, what will happen when we are meeting the throngs of strangers I believe will be coming in for the harvest? Besides, in our day-to-day, we must show we are Christians by our love; we will need to stand out in the mess around us.
A friend said something yesterday that just plain ol’ hurt my feelings. I felt attacked, I felt her comment was undeserved, and the Lord and I spent some significant time discussing it on my way home from the event. I did most of the talking at first.
But the Lord reminded me of something He told me years ago; clearly I guess I needed a refresher course. He said, “Penny, you are not in charge of the universe. You don’t get to decide what others should or shouldn’t say or do. That’s not yours.”
Very few people these days seem to be saying or doing what i want them to do. And I believe this is by design. I can’t make people be who I want them to be or do what I want them to do. It’s not in my power to change any of that. At best I can bless them and pray for them. But being offended because they aren’t lining up with what I think should happen is giving that spirit of offense an open door. We just can’t let that happen.
Just posting this in case anyone else needs it.
