Sunday 8/28/1016

Because it is Sunday, Matt and I spent the day together at the inn and Recho and Andrew went to church as a family and spent their day together. We encouraged this because we realize that we are taking up so much of their time together and they just had a baby. They live too far for us to have gone with them.
Nevertheless, it was a great day. A day of rest and reflection. A day of reading and thinking and praying.
I thought a lot about forgiveness today. Although I think about it very often, it has been heavy on my mind the past couple of days. You see, hurt is hurt in whatever form it presents itself. Whether it's being sent to the streets by your parents as a child to beg or sell your body for money, or its name calling, or being a target of racism (blatant or subtle), or being unfairly criticized or blamed unfairly, or being lied to or about, or being tortured for what someone else feels is justified, or being made fun of, or being beaten, or raped, or cheated on, or............................
When you have been hurt and your trust has been broken and you've lost faith in someone or a system of someones, you have to decide whether or not you will forgive. And usually there is a direct link between how long it will take you to forgive and the degree or level of the offense and it's affect on you or a loved one. But Jesus said to forgive others and to love your enemies. And we often dig in our heels and say,"But God, you dont really expect us to forgive this person for (fill in the blank.)"  But it is a direct command. We say, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive others."  Do we mean that?  I know for certain that I want God to forgive me for my sins...it's the "as we forgive others" part I'm not always so sure about. Why?  Because it is part of the hard work He has called us to. It is not always easy being obedient in the areas that God has called us to. I know that I have hurt others in my lifetime. Some greatly and I can only pray that they have somehow found it in their hearts to forgive me. I myself have had countless sleepless nights and shed innumerable tears trying to come to grips with some of the ways I have experienced hurt. I have mourned the loss of relationships until I was certain that a piece of my heart had died with them. And over and over again (sometimes with the same exact people) God has lovingly and sometimes firmly guided me through the most difficult process a human being will ever experience...how to forgive someone. He has also helped me to learn that my part is the forgiveness, but that reconciliation does not always follow. And I've learned that that is ok.
You see, unforgiveness causes a bitter root to take hold in your soul. And once that root starts to get nourished, it becomes stronger until it eventually chokes the life out of you. You can not have the full peace and joy of Jesus when you are being suffocated by hate or unforgiveness and so we must obey Him in order to grow in Him.
My prayer, and I ask that you pray with me, is that our Lord and Savior will equip the girls of 91four to forgive those that have so brutally and mercilessly assaulted their innocent lives. The beatings and rapes and abandonments and the void where love should have been. They have every reason to be bitter and angry and vengeful  and to hate. Every reason except one...Jesus. Jesus says that this is not the answer but instead to love and forgive that they may know Him more fully. Remember, the most brutal forms of violence and speech were used against Jesus and He prayed, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."  He experienced the depths of despair and was subjected to the unimaginable and he was innocent; full of nothing but love. He, more than anyone, would have been completely justified for withholding His forgiveness. But He forgave. And He asks the same of us.

God our Father, we pray that we will rely on the strength you have fully equipped us with for the purpose of forgiving others when we have been hurt. We know that this is impossible in our own human strength and that it is only through You that we can forgive others and then lay down the hurt at Your feet and move forward.  Thank you for loving us enough to give us Your own example of what forgiveness looks like and for remaining with us faithfully as we stumble through the process.
Amen
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."
Psalm 34:18