Offended at God

The word of God is ALIVE and ACTIVE... ~Hebrews 4:12a

Have you ever had revelation from the scripture that is entirely new?  As in, you've read a verse a hundred times and then suddenly one day it jumps off the page at you perfectly timed for a specific situation you are facing?  I love that the Word of God truly is divinely inspired words that apply to our lives in FRESH and active ways!

I'm in the middle of a fantastic morning devotion/study right now called Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed and I'm currently in the section written by Beth Moore: (I highly recommend it!)

A study on the life of King David, I'm finding that these 3 women authoring the study have insight to scripture far exceeding the few verses that encapsulate parts of his story. So much so that I'm writing this blog to share the latest study notes with you...fasten your seatbelts!!

Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all and led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart that carried the Ark of God.  Ahio walked in front of the Ark.  David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.  ~2 Samuel 6:1-5  NLT

Now don't do what I do: jump ahead to what you know is about to happen.  Stay here on these verses as if they are the only part of the story you know so far: David and all of Jerusalem are celebrating with all their might the bringing of the Presence of God back home!  Think of a time when you were excited beyond belief for a particular event...something thrilling!  Something you were absolutely sure would be a time of blessing.  Now if you know what happens next...think of a time when your excitement was suddenly and thoroughly cut short by pain and suffering:

But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God.  Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God. ~verses 6 &7

For the purposes of mining more out of the word of God I want you to momentarily disregard the fact that we know Uzzah was struck dead because of his disobedience of touching the sacred ark and the fact that David wasn't supposed to transport the ark on a new cart anyway.  In my judgment of their disobedience I have missed some very human emotions I can learn from.  Yes they disobeyed, but they were also trying to celebrate something wonderful and instead something devastating happened.

In my own life I have had two seasons of celebrating the anticipation of a new baby to arrive in my arms only to have my excitement cut devastatingly short by the untimely deaths of both little ones.  I know what it feels like for my happiness to be cut off in a shocking moment of death. Twice.

Have you ever experienced sheer joy screeched to a halt by sheer disappointment?  What are your subsequent emotions?

David was angry...David was now afraid of the Lord... ~verses 8a and 9a

Angry? check.  Afraid?  check.

As Beth Moore writes at this point in the study, "Devastation that should have been celebration is almost more than we can take.  We are simply and understandably unprepared...but we must not let anger or fear be our last feeling on a matter either.  Neither can be sustained in our systems without turning to poison." 

Since losing my little ones my daily life lesson has been learning to trust God again and it has been a much longer road than I ever expected.  The waiting for God to turn my mourning into dancing has also taken much longer than anticipated.  Again, David experiences something similar...

David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?”  So David decided not to move the Ark of the Lord into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.  The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household. ~Verses 9-11

These 3 verses I have skipped entirely in the past...but Beth Moore points out something I can absolutely identify with:  while David was in pain, God chose to bless SOMEONE ELSE. 

This I know.  With every pregnancy announcement, new birth photo, and adoption story I watch God bless others with children while I continue to wait in pain.  I know that jealousy and it burns deep.

So even though he disobeyed God causing pain to himself and the people around him, how did the Man After God's Own Heart choose to respond to the Lord's blessing amidst pain? 

Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration. After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.  And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.  So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.  ~Verses 12-15

His anger and fear were melted by seeing the goodness of God in the blessing of another.  Instead of being paralyzed in jealousy he learned that God is not eternally angry...something he would later write many Psalms about:  The Lord is good.  His faithful love endures forever.  (Ps 106:1, Ps 136, Ps 117:2, Ps 100:5 and also 1 Chron 16:34, Exra 3:11, Jeremiah 33:11)

Beth writes, "Had David not had such a heart for God, he could have been jealous, bitter and flooded with resentment.  Few things will test our hearts more thoroughly than God's shameless blessing over other lives when we're enduring a time of hardship and perhaps chastisement." 

At this point in my study I was in tears, sharing that last statement on Facebook and feeling thoroughly but lovingly challenged to examine my heart before the Lord.

Letting her last statement echo in my heart she then switches gears to the New Testament and proves AGAIN that scripture I've always been familiar with can speak in a fresh new way to my heart.  Catch this gem:

The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”  ~Luke 7:18-20 NLT

John the Baptist was currently in prison.  Have you ever asked yourself WHY John sent his disciples to ask Jesus this question?  Or have you just kept reading and completely missed the first part of this story like I'm guilty of?

The answer stunned me:  Poor John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, Jesus' own cousin was sitting in jail while he heard report after report of his relative performing numerous miracles elsewhere.  Could it be that in a moment of weak faith he sent his disciples to find out if Jesus really was who he said he was?  And Jesus' answer to them still echoes in my heart days later:

At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’”  ~verses 21-23

The New King James version is even more clear: And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.

Offended?  At God.  Oh yes.  I've been offended by him.  And I suspect you have also been offended at some point too.  Offended that he does not intervene when we think he should.  Offended that he did not protect.  Offended that he allowed something horrendous.  And offended that he never explains why he does some of the things he does. 

Oh that I would learn to let go of my offenses so I too can draw near to the heart of God who is good and whose faithful loves endures forever.

Do you remember what happens to John next?  He's beheaded.  yeah.  Jesus never got him out of prison.  He never heard the words that Jesus spoke to the crowd about him next:




After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    and he will prepare your way before you.’

I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”  ~Verses 24-28

Let Beth's final thoughts flow over your spirit the way they did over mine:

" John was right.  Jesus did treat him differently from the masses he heard about.  Jesus caused John's blind eyes to open to the very face of God.  He caused his lame legs to dance on golden roads.  He caused his leprous sin to be cured for all eternity from its hidden lusts, secret greeds, and self-righteous boasts.  The dead were indeed raised and the forerunner of Jesus hear the best news of all: "Welcome, my good and faithful servant!  Enter into your Master's happiness!"  Sometimes there's just a bigger plan."