Blessed Are The Unoffended
What if it doesn’t look like what I thought it would?
What if You come in ways I didn’t know You could?
Offend my mind.
Reveal my heart.
I won’t worship my preference anymore.
Right here, if You walked in this room,
Would I recognize You, and want You to stay,
Or would I not know You, and reason You away?
Don’t just come how I want You.
Come how You are.
If You came like fire, would I believe that it’s You?
If You came like wind, would I still know You in this room?
You are Alpha, and somehow You’re still Omega.
I want Your fullness, and not just my preference.
“Preference” by Rachel Morley
I’ve been really fascinated by the life of John the Baptist lately. As dear cousin, born about six months before Jesus, John’s role was to be “ a voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert” (Isaiah 40:3 CSB). John spent his life fasting, praying, baptizing, and awaiting the start of Jesus’ ministry. In response to John’s submission, Jesus proclaimed John to be the greatest prophet in the kingdom (Matthew 11:11, Luke 7:28). He was faithful in his call and loved God dearly. And yet, even he experienced disappointment and doubt in the very God for which he lived and breathed.
As John sat in prison, perhaps feeling abandoned and looking for the deliverance, he sent his followers to ask Jesus one question. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” This moment is laid out for us in the books of Matthew and Luke, and it is the only recorded time where John questioned Jesus. He expected Jesus to speak a certain way, act a certain way, and save a certain way. When Jesus didn’t meet those expectations, John was disapponted. Jesus’ response was this…
“Jesus replied to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me,’” (Matthew 11:4-6 CSB, emphasis added).
Jesus was never unholy in His actions. We know that He lived the perfect life we were unable to live and bore the punishment for our sins by dying the death we deserved. Jesus was (and is) all we have ever needed and more, but He was very different from what people expected Him to be. The Jewish people, understandably, believed that the Messiah’s prominent ministry would be displayed through their deliverance under Roman rule. Jesus, on the other hand, wanted to deliver them from a greater bondage.
Although the outcome of Jesus’ ministry to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) would ultimately be of much greater benefit, it is understandable why the people of God were disappointed, and even offended, by what they saw. Jesus sees this wrestling and lovingly shares that they will be blessed if they choose to accept Him for who He reveals Himself to be.
My question for you today is this: When are you tempted to be offended by God?
In “Preference,” the worshipper is asking for her mind to be offended and her heart to be revealed. She wants to be exposed to what would initially disappoint so that she can repent and obtain a new heart. She desperately asks to be met with all that would surprise her about God so that she can know Him for who He truly is. When tempted to take offense, she wants to worship instead, in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)
Is it possible that we find ourselves offended by God because we are enamored by an image of Him that is at odds with who He really is?
Surely you’ve been disappointed with God before. Maybe it’s happens when you pray for deliverance, and instead, He answers with more trial. Or maybe you expect Him to meet you in your quiet time with an emotional response to His presence, and instead, you leave feeling empty. How about when the healing doesn’t come, the job isn’t quite as glamorous as you thought it would be, the family is pure chaos, and the church hurt feels unforgivable?
We expect God to heal, deliver, and redeem in very specific ways, but He graciously reminds us that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) The God who freed Paul and Silas by opening the prison doors is the same God who allowed John to endure prison and eventually be beheaded. The God who hid and rescued David from the hand of Saul allowed the Israelites to endure years and years slavery. The God who raised Lazarus from the dead allowed His Son to undergo scourging and crucifixion. And blessed are those who aren’t offended by Him.
“In this world, you will have trouble,” Jesus says, “but take heart. I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33). Jesus does not allow for there to be any room for surprise when trial is brought upon His people. He assures us that suffering (self-inflicted or otherwise) is unavoidable, but we are to be of good spirit. This is not because we are assured that God will take away the trouble, but there is assurance in that His grace is sufficient, and He is bigger than our trouble. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
It is in suffering that endurance is built, leading to grounded character and hope like no other (Romans 5:3-4). It is in suffering that we experience the peace of God that exceeds our understanding (Philippians 4:7). It is in suffering that we learn to be complete in God, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). It is in suffering that we learn the true, near character of God, as opposed to a the fictional, idolized idea of Him that we think we prefer in dark seasons. And blessed are the unoffended when He allows this suffering, disappointment, ridicule, and even persecution to occur.
Don’t get me wrong. God is in the healing, delivering, way-out-of-no-way business. It is an act of pure grace when He does provide, and I pray that you get to experience something like it in your lifetime! Pray for the healing! Pray for deliverance! Pray for the miracle, and believe that He can do it! And when we do so, we ought to recognize that He does not owe us every healing, delivering, and way-making experience we ask for. His decision to answer a prayer with a yes, a no, or a not yet consistently reveals an element of who He is and who we are in His image. What a gift it is to know that any answer from God will always result in our good. (Romans 8:28)
Bring your requests to God while remembering that the greatest miracle we will ever experience has already happened in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ death counts as the ransom needed for our eternal life in heaven. Any other miracle pales in comparison. And if God never does another miraculous thing for you, will you remain grateful? If God shows up in your life differently than how you hoped He would, will you remain unoffended?
May we no longer worship who we prefer God to be. May we only lovingly adore God for who He really is — perfect in all of His ways, even when our understanding of Him is not. And when He reveals more of Himself to us — a side we forgot about or a side we’ve never noticed — may we be open to receiving Him fully.
Listen To The Song!
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/preference-live/1746400300?i=1746400304
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/4KZBNnHig4PN0cS5UkI6lq?si=33cfba45f8e24324
