And Then Many Will Be Offended
And Then Many Will Be Offended
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” – Jesus (Matthew 24: 10-13 (NKJV))
I don’t have a patent on perfection. I’ve been offended a little more than I’d like to admit over this past18 months than the rest of my life combined. Normally I’m bothered when I hear about people who are offended. This time, I’ve been on the offense.
What I’m about to share, I’m not sharing because I want sympathy. I’m sharing because maybe there is someone who can identify. We’ve all experienced difficult times over the last few years. In fact, many have experienced way worse than I.
2 years and 2 months ago my father died. His death was the most difficult loss I’ve ever experienced. I had heard the term heartache, but it wasn’t until his death that I experienced it. Physical heartache is very real. My heart was literally aching. For the first 6 months I developed physical issues I had never experienced and had no control over any of it. I really don’t know how people go through that without Jesus. I believed there was nothing worse I could go through.
8 months later the pandemic hit. We have an assisted living facility. I felt an indescribable weight and pressure. We have a facility full of “the most vulnerable”. The “what ifs” were weighing on me with each new day. I felt like I woke up each day with one more brick attached to me. There was nothing I could do to get relief. I clung to God’s word, but the bricks were still there. The weight and pressure was mounting.
4 months after we were asked to close our doors, (March 15th was when we as a world went on lockdown) we had our “outbreak” at our facility. This was a very difficult time for so many reasons. Plus, it was right around the one-year mark of my dad’s death, so I was still dealing with grief, plus everything we’d been dealing with because of the pandemic. I honestly didn’t know if I would make it through. I was beginning to feel physically and emotionally unable to handle anything.
By the grace of God, we were slowly moving forward, all the while the pandemic was still very real with all the stress, pressure, and life changes it brings.
6-months later, during the height of the outbreaks across the Country and in our area, my father-in-law passed away from covid. It wasn’t associated with our facility in any way It was from community spread. It was so devastating and unreal. It was so unexpected. Like most during this time period we had a private graveside funeral. In so many ways even several months later, it still feels unreal.
Again, I’m not sharing for sympathy, I really do have a point. I want to get back to the scripture I first shared-
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” – Jesus Matthew 24: 10-13 (NKJV)
The other day when I was reading in Matthew 24, I got to these words…
“And then many will be offended”
So what does this scripture have to do what all the stress & grief, and heartache described above?
I was thinking back on all the things that have bothered or offended me the past few years. I think had I not been going through grief mixed with almost unbearable added stress, maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have let so many things offend me. I’m not making excuses; I’m just saying at some point ability to reason goes out the door when you’ve had enough.
If I’m being honest, I think I was full of so much anger from everything I was going through, that I made up reasons to be offended. It was easier for me to pick a reason to be offended at someone, than to admit anger for having to go through so much crap. I was part of the “many” in the scripture… “and then many will be offended.”
I know this for certain. Remaining in offense causes bitterness and bitterness causes love to grow cold. I recognize that I was part of the many in the scripture, but I don’t want to be part of the scripture that reads… “The love of many will grow cold. Plus, I certainly don’t want my bitterness to then allow me to be deceived.
The good news? The scripture continues to read… “But He who endures till the end will be saved.”
Where has your offense taken you?
Dear Lord, Help me to react out of love instead of anger and always choose the path of forgiveness.
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” – Jesus Matthew 24: 10-13 (NKJV)