I was weeding through some emails this morning and opened one from the Elijah List.   I found a great article by Victoria Boyson entitled the War Against the Harvest.   The first part of her article really spoke to me because I have had this very thing happen.

Out of nowhere, thoughts of offense or hurt have bombarded my mind concerning a wrong that was done to me in the past.  Even though I had forgiven the person, the thoughts poured in like a flood.

I would like to share part of Victoria’s article with you:

One morning years ago, I was getting ready to go to church and my mind was flooded with negative thoughts about a friend of mine. She had hurt my feelings a few weeks earlier and I had forgiven her, but here I was weeks later assaulted by thoughts about her that were not the victorious, loving, forgiving thoughts I wanted in my head.

All morning I fought the battle, but the thoughts kept coming. With the Lord’s help, I was able to keep my mouth shut and not to speak out the negative thoughts, and pray for her instead. In blessing her, I was able to keep my heart from rooting in bitterness.

That morning as I got to church, I heard a familiar sound – someone was singing. It wasn’t our regular worship leader, it was my friend. Yeah, that’s right. I knew when I entered the sanctuary and heard her leading the worship service that that was the reason for the enemy’s assault against me.

The enemy had seen the difficulty between us and wanted to use it to gain access to my mouth so I would speak out his agenda over my friend when what she needed was blessings and prayer. I thought, “You sneaky devil! That’s what you were up to.” I was really glad I kept my mouth shut and didn’t give him access to hurt her and hinder the anointing from flowing through her that morning.

I have been in her spot when others have “suddenly” had an issue of offense with me and cursed me when I was at that moment being used by God. I was in a position to bless the Kingdom, but was struggling under the weight of a war launched against me. It was very difficult to work through it during a time when I needed to be blessed. I felt the people I ministered to were somewhat robbed of the blessing that could have come through me to them due to the attack launched against me.

So often we think our offense is important, but when you look at it in the light of the work of the Kingdom, it really isn’t. As warriors in the Kingdom, the battle for Him has to come first in our heart – no offense is worth hindering the flow of God’s Spirit.

Ah, I love how she ended that last paragraph.  NO OFFENSE IS WORTH HINDERING THE FLOW OF GOD’S SPIRIT.

How many times have we fallen prey to the schemes of the devil?   I recently received an attack out of NOWHERE the other morning.  It really blindsided me, but I didn’t keep my mouth shut.  I told two different friends about it.    Ugh … just being transparent here.

James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

Victoria was so wise to keep her mouth shut and not allow bitterness to form a root in her heart!

I was just talking with a friend who had to debate an opponent yesterday in a public forum.   Her opponent immediately started accusing her of failing in her job.    I don’t know how she stood there without taking offense, or crying, or turning red in the face, or breaking down, etc …   She is much more seasoned at this than I am, but still … we are all humans with emotions.

Hebrews 12:15
… looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Victoria certainly had a raging battle in her mind.   She didn’t open her mouth, but continued to fight the thoughts.   She stopped it right where it started and never let it leak out to make others stumble.    She didn’t defile others with bitter words against her friend.

What a great reminder this morning!

Father, please help me keep my mouth shut even when I have been wronged.  Holy Spirit, please convict me if I entertain any negative thoughts and gently spur me before I open my mouth.    In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

You can find the rest of Victoria’s article by clicking here.  She takes it in a bit of a different direction (that we all need to read) about tearing apart other harvesters, anger, etc …  You will want to read what she has to share.