Forgiveness

Image by Steve Wampler via Flickr

"Forgiveness" By Diane Webb

Psalms 30: 5—"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning".

In this verse, David assures us God's anger does not last long and is for our own good; by morning, everything will be alright. It's hard to think about the morning when you are having a bad night--especially if it is the result of sin and separation from God. If you have felt disconnection from God you know it is a lonely, desolate feeling. The weeping is gut-wrenching. David had become arrogant in his blessings and God turned away from him. David, of course, repented and his relationship with God was quickly restored. In David's case, God did turn away. In most cases, we are the ones turning away or ignoring God. God, through the Holy Spirit, continues beckoning us back; He makes it clear he loves us and wants our relationship with Him restored. This is not what happened in David's case. Can you imagine what it must have felt like for David to suddenly find himself without God's favor? Not only that, he was the object of God's anger. It did not take David long to remember where his life and his prosperity sprang from. The last part of this verse, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning", is what is most familiar to people. Few of us recognize the first part and what it was all about. God, however, does not hold a grudge. When we say we are sorry and ask for forgiveness he gives it quickly and freely. He does not bring it up over and over again the rest of our lives. When we are forgiven, we are forgiven. Why, then, do we remember the wrongs of others long after they have said they are sorry? We are not talking about those who never apologize; but there are those who have apologized and we still have the anger in our hearts towards them. We all can think of a time we made a mistake, apologized, yet the person just would not let it go. We offered to make amends but that was not good enough. It's like there was no way to make it right again. At these times, it's best to just move on yourself and let that individual deal with whatever it is they are dealing with. When we apologize from our hearts and have offered some sort of reasonable amends or restitution, we are done. If God can forgive us completely then we must be confident in our heart that we do not owe the rest of our life to someone we've wronged on earth. If someone is holding something over your head and you have already done your part, do not allow them to manipulate or control you with the past. You have to be the one to say—"I've done my part and the rest is between you and God not me". Some people take an apology as a license to abuse. Anything you've done wrong is really between you and God anyway. If you have made peace with God, let God lead you on the best way to deal with the person you may have wronged. There are times God will lead you to apologize or make amends. Other times He may lead you to simply move on—to let it go. So many people over-apologize and beat themselves up year after year over something they've repented for hundreds of times. There is a certain point where you have to forgive yourself and accept God's grace. If God can forgive us of so many things—and you know the magnitude of your misdeeds—why can't we forgive ourselves and others the same way?

Father, thank you first and foremost for forgiving my sins through Jesus Christ. Remind me today, Lord, of my forgiveness. Help me forgive myself and others the same way you have forgiven me. Don't let me use someone elses apology against them nor let others use mine against me. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.