Have you read Hannah Hurnard’s iconic books, “Hinds Feet on High Places,” and “Mountains of Spices” ever?
There is a character called Umbrage in those stories. I find her characterization of the figures in these books fascinating. “Much-Afraid” is the main character and she is from the family of “Fearings.” Umbrage is a relative of Much-Afraid’s, and she interests me.
Umbrage is defined simply as “offense or annoyance.” (Google)
I see it a bit deeper, fleshed out by Hurnard’s character.
This “woman” was locked in an attitude of offense. That’s umbrage. A bitter event happened of which cannot be let go. She represents all of us in a human response to something bitter in life. It’s a natural response.
A few years ago the world was mostly in the clutches of Covid-19. We all took sides, read heaps of information, stood firm or followed. Both sides took umbrage against each other, since the bitterness of the threat pushed us into different warring camps.
Friendships were lost, families were fractured. People died without proper grief and observance. It happened to me, and I can bet (pretty sure) it happened to others. You.
You were forced to take a side if you didn’t take a stand, even if merely by default. No one was excused. You either wore a mask or you didn’t.
No matter what the TRUTH of the whole puppet-master scheme turned out to be, WE humans were skewered into moulds whether we wanted to be or not.
I am not here to discuss that, but what came of it even years afterward. The umbrage.
I examine my own heart and I am guilty of harboring umbrage in my own soul. I confess and ask God’s forgiveness!
I know this is deep down because I took umbrage at someone yesterday for dredging up the past differences of heart and soul, angrily scolding me for holding an opposing view.
I have no right to take umbrage. That is sin in my heart.
I can still hold my own (educated) view, but I cannot succumb to a bitterness that may be linked to that stance.
Take it to the LORD. He understands. How many times could HE have taken umbrage at the Pharisees and Sadducees?
We have no right to take umbrage. We are told to love our enemy. Umbrage will disquiet the heart and mind, snatch peace from your day, and bring rot to your bones. Its relationship to bitterness is tight.
The Chief Shepherd changed Umbrage’s name when she turned to Him. He renamed her Forgiveness.
She was married to Resentment and her daughter was Retaliation. I won’t spoil the story any more because YOU HAVE TO READ IT.
Are you bearing umbrage instead of forgiveness for past “wrongs?” However you perceive these wrongs in your life, can you give them to the Shepherd who cares for your soul more than for your body?
I’m reminding myself, pleading with God to help me forgive, even as this sad history revisits us from time to time.
Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. He loves to dredge up past grievances and spoil our happiness. He would love to destroy our joy. Can you let the past go? Can you forgive? Can you overcome his tactics of umbrage and bitterness?
I hope we can, together.
MARANATHA!