Words From The Wheel

Well, I guess it’s time…

My last post was January 3… over a month ago. And even at that, it wasn’t really a regular “post,” not like I might normally post. I’m still not entirely sure about the quietness I’ve been enveloped in for the past month or so. Nothing has specifically been wrong, and I haven’t felt bad. I suppose if I had to put a name on it, it would be more akin to “pensiveness” or “study,” if that makes sense. And, along with it, the stark and impending notion of my own unworthiness.

Recent Changes & Appointments, Against Regular

I think sometimes we wind up entirely engrossed in “regular”. Regular work. Regular duties. And regular day-in, day-out affairs of life. I dare say, even “regular Bible reading” and “regular prayer” can begin to fester after a while. Maybe that’s why God shakes our foundations from time to time?

I have recently stepped into some new pathways. Put on some new hats. And in doing so, it’s as if I hit a springboard that sent me reeling into unknown territories. I prayed about them and received confirmations after confirmation, but as the day drew nearer, my nerves got the best of me and I let a deadline pass me by. I resigned myself to moving along and letting that “thing” be a missed opportunity, but there was a weight I couldn’t seem to shake. And so I prayed another prayer… you know the one… “Okay, Jesus… I realize I may have stepped out on this one prematurely and against my better judgment. So if this is something You really, really want me to do, let [this certain thing] happen.”

And wouldn’t you know it? That certain thing happened.

Needless to say, I am back on track for that thing. Back on the springboard. Even with butterflies in my stomach and a feeling that maybe it’s not what I’m called to do, I really have no choice. If it is what I’m supposed to do, I would be missing the opportunity of a lifetime. And the wondering and what-if’s – as they have done so many times before – would eat me alive!

Moving Through the Fog of Regular

Even my blog has done things I did not expect. In the month+ that I have left Words From The Wheel unattended, my traffic has increased by 10 times. I had to deep dive into my analytics, just because I thought it was a false reading on the surface. But it wasn’t.

Was God trying to tell me something there as well? I don’t know. But it got me to thinking, nonetheless. Thinking about how many opportunities I’ve let sit and collect dust while I’ve been stuck in “regular.”

Now, there are certain things I know. Certain things of which I have Divine evidence. And those aren’t things I can deny, even if I’ve never spoken of them to a majority of people I know, even those closest to me. There are so many things that go through my head that sometimes, I find it hard to do anything else. I wonder sometimes what in the world I would do if I had the free time to legitimately study each of those things in the detail they deserve!

Desensitization, Onslaught, and Common Sense

If ever in history there was a time when more “information” was thrown around, and carelessly at that, I certainly wouldn’t want to experience it. There is a “cause” around every corner. And if you have an opinion that differs from that of the majority, you are labeled. It doesn’t matter which side of what you’re on, there are labels for all.

Now, mind you, none of that bothers me generally speaking. I can walk away from most of the foolishness that seems to go on without much of a thought. But there is one thing that is beyond desensitization. One thing I cannot, for long, keep quiet about, and that is the ever-rising impression that faith is either nonsense or – even worse – offensive.

Offense and Minding Your Tongue

The truth is, that believers have been offending folks ever since the beginning of time. But there is a crucial element to the word “offense” that I feel like has been degraded over time. And it’s so important!

One dictionary defines “offense” this way: “Annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult to or disregard for oneself or one’s standards or principles.”

If you pay attention to words because they do, in fact, mean something, offense is experienced in and dispensed by a person’s own mind. The problem with it today is that if someone takes offense to something someone else says or does, the offended party thinks there should be a swift and immediate retribution brought about to take care of it.

And so here we are, in social justice nation, if it’s any nation at all.

BUT GOD!

I’ll not go into the wide, vast, and extensive offensives to which people have grasped onto as if they’re life rafts. So much so that “social justice warrior” now feels like a paid position.

The problem is that more and more, people are offended at believers for their devotion and loyalty to Jesus and His Word. So much so that brazen tongues rise shamelessly to degrade our faith and lifestyle. The same people who degrade Christianity, however, have no problem being the social justice warriors they feel are necessary for every other religion, and for those that claim there is no religion. But we Christians cannot be afforded that same peaceful solution.

But then again, the enemy of every soul that has ever been born on this earth has been setting that in motion ever since Cain rose up against Abel and killed him there in that field. With a rock. But even in the face of burnings, beatings, and beheadings, this Word that is so desperately offensive to so many has prevailed. But yet, even though it’s been banned over and over through the years, we still have that precious Word, and still serve the One who makes it infallible.

There Are No Regular Believers

Through these past couple of years, and all that we’ve been through in them, I have come to the conclusion that there are no regular believers. Well… there may be, but there shouldn’t be. Regular believers are fair game for everything the enemy sends down the rails.

The truth is, we are engaged in a battle, whether we want to admit it or not. Oh, we can sit idly by. We can keep our mouths shut and cover our eyes and ears, and we can pretend that certain things simply aren’t our business.

Some things aren’t, it’s true. There are lots of times we are best served by lips that speak no guile and a mind that doesn’t play too close to the devil’s gate. Then there are times when sharing the Truth is the only course of action we have. And that’s something that so many of the offended do not understand. We have a mandate to serve our God. As Peter and John said in Acts 4:19, after being threatened to never again preach or teach in the Name of Jesus, “…Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.”

If that offends someone, that’s not my fault.

A Regular Conclusion

My faith is mandated by the God who came to earth in a flesh body, died on a cross to shed blood for the remission of my sin, blood into which I am baptized in the Name of Jesus as commanded, and sent the Holy Ghost as Comforter and Teacher.

I would not risk my eternity, even if the whole world were offended at my Jesus, my faith, and my devotion to Him.

It’s really just that simple.

But not a bit of it is regular.