Blessed

"And Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." Matthew 11:6

I have had the privileged of walking through much of this journey with Beth Moore's studies by my side. While I would love to say that I know her personally, I fear I know nothing more than what she presents in her studies. What she presents are truly presents from God to me. God uses this woman to speak into my soul daily and apply healing balm to my broken heart.

Matthew 11:6 which is spoken directly by Jesus has moved me and affirmed this walk of faith in so many ways. So many in this nation who don't know Jesus are offended by Him...His teachings, His acts. But that is not what this verse is referring to. It is not a message from Christ to a nonbeliever, but rather a message from Jesus to John the Baptist. Few people were more instrumental in launching Jesus' ministry than his cousin John. John was the one who proclaimed Jesus as the Christ and also experienced the wonder and miracle that was Jesus' baptism when the spirit of God landed on Him as a dove and the heavens parted to reveal God's spoken voice, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). I love the thought of God parting the heavens and speaking a loving word over His son.

Flash forward from this baptism to John's future in prison. He is to be beheaded for the sake of Christ, and is simply waiting for the appointed day. He hears about the works of Jesus and sends two of his disciples to see Jesus. They ask him, "Are you the coming one or do we look for another?" (Matt 11:3). Now this might seem weird since John was the one to dunk Jesus and behold the voice of God. What is really going on here? Let's think about where John is at right now mentally and spiritually. Physically he is sitting in a prison all because he is the one to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. Not only is he in prison but he has a death sentence looming over his head...quite literally. You can imagine he has a few questions for Jesus. If I were John, as a fallen human this is what I would be thinking, "Is he really the Christ? Did I miss it? Am I going to die for the wrong man? No! He must be the Christ, I heard God's voice! But why isn't he acting? Why am I still in the prison when I paved the way for this Christ? With but a spoken word He could get me out of here. Why hasn't he done anything yet? Has he forgotten me?" Maybe you are stronger than I am, but I know that the idea of being forsaken might go through my mind when I am lined up for the chopping block on Christ's account.

Being God in human flesh, Jesus didn't need the messengers from John to seek Him out. He already knew John's heart. He has an amazing response to John's questioning heart, "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

Walking this journey of life without Ruthie has made me realize that no one escapes moments to be offended by Jesus. As a matter of fact, it is probably part of most (if not all) Christian testimonies. When we encounter the storms of life it is easy to think, "If God is who I think He is and He can do what is stated in the Bible, and if I am really the 'child of God' then why isn't he coming through for me?" We think we are forgotten, we think we are not heard, we think He doesn't care. We come up with all these false theologies that the enemy manifests in our mind. But we must remember that we are blessed when we could be offended with God but choose not to be.

Oh beloved, have you been there? So down and out, so lost in your tragedy that you think He has forsaken you? Have you been there in your life when you wanted to be angry with Him? When you wanted to give God a piece of your mind for not playing life out as you wanted it? I know I have been there...I think we can all be there. For most people nothing arouses more anger than losing a child you never got to spend time with. But BLESSED are we, when we could be angry and choose to walk in joy.

I remember those moments in the hospital, late night, just me and God when I would beg for my child. I would scream out in my spirit, "LORD CALL HER ALIVE!! SPEAK IT LORD SPEAK IT!" There were times when I have screamed at my enemy and adversary condemning him and reminding him of his eternal torment in the lake of fire when my Christ returned for me. There were moments of me crying out over Ruthie to "wake up sleeping girl! wake up!" Beloved, that pain is real, it is intense, and it never completely goes away. Ultimately God said, "No Lexi, you will not see your daughter this side of heaven." But I am convinced, that He granted a "no" to me in order to grant a greater "yes" to someone who will come to know Christ through our testimony and Ruthie's short life story. I don't think that anyone in our family could doubt their relationship with Jesus is so much more powerful today than it was on December 7, 2010. Jesus is real to us, His love and power is real to us, His mercy is real to us, and His sacrifice on the cross is SO real to us.

But friends, this could have gone in a completely different direction. We could have been offended, bitter, angry... In fact I don't even want to imagine the person I would be had I let myself fall down that slippery slope.

I (We) made a choice.

A choice that we would not be offended with God if He said "No." We made a choice to know that when we weeped over Ruthie He weeped with us...even though He had her there with Him. You see God is not selfish. He did not allow Ruthie to pass into eternity and then be joyful because He had her and we didn't. God wept with us, just the same as He did when He saw how it broke Mary and Martha's heart to look at their dead brother Lazarus.

We asked God for the impossible because there was no way we would be offended with His decision. There was no way the God of wonders, the God that created us and knit Ruthie in my womb could ever disappoint us. And since we were never offended, every step since December 9, 2010 has always been blessed.

My deepest love to you, my readers that are taking this journey with me. God Bless You!