YOU CAN’T GO FAR WHILE TAKING OFFENCE

It was a major annual convention for my Grandfather in the Faith. As I stepped out of the auditorium, he was walking with some of the guest ministers towards the office section. He saw me walking along the car park and said, “Son, make sure you see me before you go”.

When I approached the secretariat, it was a bit hard getting through the protocol but eventually, I was ushered into the waiting area. I waited for about three hours. After about three hours, his private secretary came downstairs and asked, “Are you Pastor Ola?” I replied in the affirmative. She then said, “Baba said you can leave. He will see you some other time”.

Immediately, I brought out an envelope from my pocket and handed it over to her saying, “Please, help me give him. I know it is a very busy season for him and it is just a token”. I refused to allow my mind to take a walk down the corridor of offence. I refused thoughts like, “Why did he say I should wait when he knew he was busy”. I was rather grateful that amid his hectic schedule he had me in mind or wanted to see me. That was enough for me.

If you get trapped in offence, it is a stumbling block and you are close to falling. Offence in Yoruba literally means “a stumbling”. When a man stumbles, he will soon fall.

You cannot be going around saying “I am offended” and you are taking pride in it. That’s not wise. You are proud of “I am stumbling and I will soon fall”. Do you see that? Being offended is no badge of honour. If offence has a grip on a soldier of Christ, he becomes a fallen soldier. When pride took hold of some angels, they became fallen angels. When offence has a grip on a Christian, he becomes a fallen Christian. 

Offence is a trap. You cannot stumble and expect to keep making progress at the same time. If Joseph had stayed offended with his brothers, he would not have excelled in Potiphar’s House. If he had stayed offended, he would not have reached out to those who connected him to the palace. If he had stayed offended, he would have thwarted his part in a divine plan to preserve his lineage.

One way to keep yourself away from the trap of offence is to keep your focus on what the Lord is doing at the moment and through situations. Hear Joseph:

But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. Genesis 45:5 ,  7 – 8 NLT

Did you see how many times Joseph said “God sent me here”? That is the kind of heart that is preserved from offence.

See this important prayer too:

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24 – 25 NIV

May you not stumble!