I've been reading an incredible book called, "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. It's all about offense in the Body of Christ. This is a quote from it I found quite intereting. "The Greek word for "offend" in Luke 17:1 comes from the word skandalon. This word originally referred to the part of the trap to which the bait was attached. Hence the word signifies laying a trap in someone's way. In the New Testament it often describes an entrapment used by the enemy."

It makes me wonder how often we are used for "bait" when we respond to situations in the flesh instead of responding according to the dictates of the Spirit. How about the day another Christian says something that normally wouldn't be offensive at all but because I forgot to put my spiritual armour on that morning I become deeply offended. And I wonder how often we are used as "bait" in the lives of unbelievers by the way we act and react to situations. In all of these scenarios entrapment can occur that can cause events to take place that have eternal consequences.
I've been doing a lot of soul searching while reading this book and God has really been doing a work in me.

Within the last 2 days three different situations occurred that would have normally caused me to be greatly offended at the individuals, but because of God's grace I found myself feeling some frustration but not offended. Now that is a miracle!

1. I went to the hairdresser and asked her about doing a perm for me and asked her the cost. She told me $32. I was surprised that after all these years it was still that price so I went for it even though in these days it was quite a splurge for my unemployed pocket book. When I got to the register to pay for it she said, "Oh it's not $32 it's $49 but I can give you a discount at it will be $45.73" Whoops!
Ok so I could have made a huge issue over it and told her I would only pay the $32 as that is what she had quoted me and let it come out of her own pocket. And by rights I could have, but I thought, 'why give her a bad day because she made a mistake?' So I paid it and left. I had no feeling of personal offense toward her at all. And no, she didn't get a tip basically because I couldn't afford to give her one after diminishing my funds by $13 more than I had expected to. And on top of that I could only hope that I could make something decent out of the "do" she had given me. Talk about a "bad hair day". My age is bad enough without having made me look like a '60's grandma with a high pompador. I felt stressed and frustrated and headed home to wet my hair down. Thankfully it worked!

2. A couple who had come to church once, called on the same day as the perm incident (Tues) to ask if I'd pick them up for Church on Wed. evening. They live about 10 min. from us so off I went to pick them up at the designated time. When I arrived their landlord was outside working in the yard and told me that they had left a few minutes before for a bike ride. Whoops!
So I headed back home to pick up my husband and take him to church. I found myself feeling a bit harried and frustrated but had no feeling of personal offense toward them.

3. We were awakened at 4:00 this morning with a call from the man Bill was taking fishing today to find out if the fishing trip was still on. This man is a new believer trying to get his roots dug deeper in the faith. He had called yesterday afternoon to ask the same question. Bill wasn't home but I told him that as far as I knew it was unless it poured rain. Whoops!
Bill and I both suffer from insomina so once we are awakened there is no going back to sleep. So I was torqued! Really torqued! And I told Bill everything he needed to say to him when he picked him up. And thankfully Bill knows not to take my advice after I've only had 4 hours sleep the night before. Am I offended? I don't think so in the sense of holding it against him. In fact I'm feeding him dinner this evening after they bring their big haul of fish in. Bill does intend to gently give him some guidance of the best time to call. :)

In the first first incident would it have really made a lot of difference had I reacted badly? She doesn't know me, though if I ever get her again I would probably have forfeited my right to ever talk to her about anything of eternal value.

How about the last two if I show offense when I see them again?

And what would that offensive spirit do to my spiritual life? How much of a stronghold would I end up having?

Will I continue to have the right reactions when other events occur that could cause great offense? I know that there is no way without totally allowing God to renew my mind continuously and remembering to take from His unlimited supply of grace. I need to expect the enemy to be trying to bait me every single day by using other people. And I need to remember that he will also try to use me as bait as often as he can.

Now I am going to post this and try to get a little sleep so I can get something accomplished today, like the final for the online course I've been taking. Groan!

Well, it appears I have an apology to make to my fisherman guest. When they got home I was so tired I could hardly see straight as I had not been able to fall asleep, and I know I didn't act very graciously when he told me he was sorry for waking me up at 4a.m. I didn't want to say, "Oh well that's OK" because it wasn't.. No it wasn't at all. But my brain was dead so I just looked at him and said, "Well, I don't do very well on 4 hours sleep a night". To which he responded, "That's all I had!" So that was a no win. I shuffled off to the recliner, turned the fan on and fell asleep. When I was awakened later by the phone ringing I discovered I was alone in the house. Our guest had been taken home as he was in a lot of pain so didn't even get dinner. I so hope part of that pain wasn't caused from my apparent attitude causing him to be offended. I hope to see him tomorrow and tell him that I am not angry but that I was just very, very tired. My guess is that he won't ever call us again at 4a.m. unless it's an emergency. I can only hope!