itsawonderfilledlife

Driving home last week with two teens, who were eager to hear ‘their’ toons, I allowed my inside voice to come out!

A radio contestant was the right caller number, and she was declared the winner.

“Oh gawd!” she shrieked, in full valley girl voice, over and over and over again.

And so the rest of our drive home, I mocked this desperately high-pitched radio winner lady, repeating over and over and over again, “Oh gawd.”

My kids rolled their eyes, they giggled at my dramatic insanity, then they finally begged me to stop (apparently I was stepping on their last nerve … for a change).

My son even told me that saying that was offensive to him. I get that. As a believer in God, to hear “Oh my God” does sometimes feel like a kick in the gut.

God is my Savior.

God is my Father.

God is my strength.

God is my constant.

God is my Redeemer.

To hear His name being used in a derogatory manner is ugly to my ears.

But, what I heard was not someone intentionally cursing my God, they were simply saying something with an exclamation mark at the end. A commonly used phrase to declare excitement, anger, shock or frustration.What this lady was saying was not “oh my God” but “oh my gawd.”

I cannot expect that those who do not share my love for God will hold His name with the same value and honor that I do, any more than I can expect them to act in a manner that follows His word.

I need to view them as those whose eyes have not yet been opened.

I need to pray for them.

For,
one day,
EVERY knee will bow,
and EVERY tongue will acknowledge
God.
Romans 14:11

They don’t realize;
they don’t understand,
because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds, too,
so they cannot understand.
(Isaiah 44:18)