Message of Encouragement Monday (MOEM #023)
I had a pastor once who told a story about something that had happened years ago to a member of our congregation. My pastor got a call one day saying that something terrible had happened at this person’s home. He got in his car and rushed to the person’s house to find the entire property blocked off with yellow tape. The police informed him that a man had broken into the home and murdered the wife of the family. They told my pastor that the husband was already at the hospital, where his wife had been taken. So, he drove to the hospital.
He found the man sitting in the hospital with his face buried in his hands. He sat down next to the man and put his arm around him. The man looked up at my pastor and simply said one thing. “Pastor, I reckon that God is going to ask me to forgive this man for what he’s done.” His words left my pastor speechless. How in the world could this man be thinking about forgiveness after something so unthinkable? There’s only one answer: the heart of Jesus. We see that even as Jesus was on the cross, even as He was being put to death, he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
And so, I ask you, and I ask myself today, whenever someone has done the unthinkable to you, or to me – the thing that may have shaken us to our core - can we forgive? What is that unthinkable thing that someone may have done to us at some point in our lives? Have we allowed Jesus into that place in our hearts, into that wounded area that we protect and guard fiercely? That’s the only way we would ever be able to truly heal and to eventually reach a place where we could forgive the unthinkable offense.
We don’t have to trust the person again, we don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen, or try to “just forget it.” We may never be friendly with the person again and we may never even see the person again. But, the healing is not about building walls around our heart and spending the rest of our lives working “around” the pain of the offense; it’s about “working through it;” acknowledging it, processing it, and receiving Christ’s healing in spite of it.
This complete and total forgiveness is Jesus’ model for us to follow. Not only does it release the other person from our wrath, it releases us from the torment of wearing it like a heavy backpack for the rest of our lives. And forgiveness is a stance of faith. It’s a stance that places our faith firmly in the hands of Christ. It’s a stance that says, “Jesus, I may not know how to digest this pain. I may not know how to handle this. I can’t do this on my own. But, You do, because You’ve lived it, even when the pain was truly unthinkable.
Don’t forget God today!
Please share our message with your loved ones who would benefit from it. We can be found on the following platforms:
X (Twitter): @TheEncourageGuy
Telegram app: https://t.me/encouragementguy
