Tuesday, January 22, 2013

When Everybody's Offended



So! At the wee hour of 6:30 yesterday morning, Tom and I braved the frigid darkness and drove to a local hospital where I sat and reread Home Another Way while he (lucky guy) had a colonoscopy. 

Arriving home, we celebrated having the procedure over with and Tom's being able to eat again by ordering out for Chinese and then watched an afternoon of Netflix movies together while bits of snow and wind blew outside our windows. The cats curled up on our laps for warmth and all felt lovely.


We discussed the kindness of each hospital worker and again, for the thousandth time, how friendly we find most everyone in Western New York. 


May the folks in the state where we retire be equally friendly, we mused.


And I do wonder about what life will be like anywhere later on because often I recall these Bible verses where Jesus speaks of the Last Days:



"All these are the beginning of sorrows...
 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."  Matthew 24:8,10


Already I hear some of those rumblings, especially as I watch upset people at Facebook and in volatile message boards and blogs arguing, unfriending and retreating into silent corners. Friends no longer friends, relatives who teach their hearts not to care.

And then last week I read something here recalling a 1995 vision Rick Joyner had (I read it back then), something which has, in 18 years, garnered great speed:



"(These hordes from hell were) sent to attack every level of relationship, between churches, congregations, pastors, husbands and wives, children and parents, and even children with each other.
The advance scouts were sent to locate the openings that could be exploited and made into larger breeches for the larger divisions of demons that were yet to come. If the evil one can cause division, he can divide and conquer. Together and in one accord, the Spirit of God can work and we are stronger.
NOW is the time to prepare for the days and months ahead."
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Prepare, prepare, prepare. I keep hearing that word inside-outside-upside-down-everywhere. In all ways, prepare for a dicey Last Days future just around the bend, a future I already peek at when I consider how divided our Country and her people have become.
How to prepare for days when people are even more offended, more angry, more stressed-out?
Pick your battles wisely, I tell myself. 
Don't nag others about tiny things which won't keep them out of heaven, lest they not listen to you about bigger things which will. Concentrate more on being a good example, yourself, rather than trying to force others into living or believing a certain way. Respect others' freedom in choosing what you, yourself, never would. Forgive because it's right, not just when you feel like it.
And only disagree aloud when God clearly nudges you--His timing will always be right and you can do no better than follow it (and only He knows whose heart He's prepared to receive light). Otherwise, keep quiet. Pray. Believe. And most of all, love.


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Again, these are things I tell myself... lest anyone else think I'm referring to them and become offended. :)


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"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."   ... Proverbs 12:18

"The greatest of these is love...."  from 1 Corinthians 13


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a strange time we live in. We know of many without many family ties...apparently because the others do not wish them. We find ourselves with only light ties to our children and their families. They bought what was taught them in school I guess...as I told hubby today, well at least there is no war...better being ignored than a family war of some kind. Our society says to be successful you have to nearly work yourself to death, be involved in so many things, groups, etc. that you rarely have a night off, make closer ties to friends than to kin, etc. etc. Many believe this. I DO SO APPRECIATE our friends, but I do also miss kin. I miss what I experienced on one side of my family growing up...oh so much. But it takes more than one person or maybe 2 to make such things happen. Likely it is going to be a rough journey getting to the gates of the Kingdom...but all we can do is our best for others and we hope by THEN, things will be as they should have been all along. Meanwhile, enjoying the life we did not plan for nor anticipate and knowing that HE is indeed yet with us. And one day the trials of the journey will be lost in the joys of the feast...THE FEAST!!
Elizabeth in VA now

Julie nliT said...

I have noticed that, since the advent of facebook usage, I have learned way too much about my friends' views and opinions. These things were not out in the open, in the past. When friends phoned, wrote letters, or got together, we focused on mutual positives. I also think that people are encouraged to be more reactive in the facebook setting. Another reason I rarely read "Letters to the Editor" in old time publications. I try to ignore the flared up posts of certain friends, knowing that when I meet them in person, they are always the lovable person that qualifies them as my friend. I try not to ever react and comment on their flare ups. I also have totally hidden the people that continually post a stream of reactionary alerts. Sadly, that even includes some of my relatives. I do think we were better off not knowing the reactions we are now privy to on fb, blogs and message boards. Just like the old "Letters to the Editor". We know too much, now.

My family was divisive even before the advent all of this technology.

Rodney Olsen said...

I think a lot of the problem stems from society telling us how important we are. We start believing that our ideas are better than anyone else's and that we are the only one's that matter. Rather than focusing on love for others we are self absorbed and self focused.