In the waiting... in the process

If you are anything like me, you don’t like waiting, and you get irritated when you have to wait for anything whether its people, answers or even food in a restaurant.  

Generally, human beings don’t wait well. I would say it’s partly because we live in a world that thrives on convenience. From fast food, fast internet, fast cars, to even fast dates, it’s an endless list of fast everything.

However, in this life there will be times we will have no choice but to wait.

I find myself smack in the middle of a very long season of waiting. In the begininng, I felt like God just halted my life. Gifted with a type A personality; it drove me crazy, I looked for ways out , banged on doors that would not barge!

  Eventually, God whispered, “The more you keep trying to get out of it the longer it will take.”   This got my attention, and I began asking these questions.

 How do I wait well?  How do I wait in a way that my waiting releases results?

“I waited patiently and expectantly for the lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Psalms 40:1)

To wait ‘patiently’ means to wait uncomplainingly, long-sufferingly, good-naturedly, unwearyingly and tolerantly.

The psalmist isn’t just waiting patiently, he is also waiting expectantly.

His waiting is not  a passive time lapse filled with meaningless things and moments until the main events arrive. It’s an active process, full of expectation and occupied with making preparations to receive.

 When we understand what it means to wait like the psalmist then our perspectives changes, we no longer slack or try to fill our time with unproductive things. Our waiting becomes productive.

The eagle

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall lift up their wings and mount up as the eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

 God uses the analogy of soaring like an eagle here for a reason.

The eagle is a remarkable bird in that it lives very different from other birds. Whenever a storm approaches, an eagle doesn’t find itself a hiding place. Instead, it flies to a high place and waits for the storm.  When the storm hits it spreads its wings wide and allows the wind of the storm to lift it higher. By the strength of the winds of the storm, the eagle is able to soar way above the storm

Isn’t this incredible?  While the storm rages below, the eagle soars above it. It doesn’t escape the storm, it thrives in the storm.

This verse is teaching us that when we wait on God; on His counsel, on His guidance, then we will be able to soar above adversity. God becomes the wind that lifts us above our circumstances. We don’t have to be afraid or try to escape, by learning to wait on God we learn to soar with Him just like the eagle in a storm.

 When we have joy despite our circumstances; when we wait patiently with a good attitude, when we treat people better than they treat us, when we live beyond the way we feel and do the right thing...This is soaring.

The Chinese bamboo tree

There is this interesting tree called ‘the Chinese bamboo tree’. It’s interesting because of the peculiar way that it usually grows. In the first four years, the gardener will see nothing off the ground except a tiny little shoot. Yet in those years, he is required to keep fertilizing and watering this tiny shoot.  As he continuously does so.

 In the fifth year… Something amazing happens.

The bamboo tree shoots up to 90 feet tall in just a few weeks.

 Here is the secret…In the time where nothing visible is seen happening to this plant, something amazing is happening beneath the soil, the tree’s root structure grows deep and wide enough to be able to support the bamboo tree on the outside when it grows to a ninety feet and beyond.

 In consequence, the root structure is imperative; it not only holds the tree in place, it also feeds the tree. Without it, there will be no tree.

There’s a metaphor in here perhaps for us…

In the first four years, the patience of the farmer is tested; self doubt sneaks in and he starts wondering if his efforts are ever going to pay off. He mutters to himself, “Maybe I should just quit and plant another tree, perhaps, am better off planting a palm tree.”

Our time in waiting feels much like this farmer, we have sown the seeds, watered and fertilized the soil but have very little to show for it.  

Like the farmer, just because we can’t see it on the outside it doesn’t mean God isn’t working and doing an amazing thing on the inside.

Like the Chinese bamboo tree, God is working our root structure (our character) in our waiting. He is building our character to be able to hold our dreams and destinies.

Through overcoming adversity and challenges, our internal system becomes strong enough to hold us and bear us in our successes.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock

The rains came, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation upon the rock. (Matthew 7: 24-25)

In our season of waiting, as we spend time in prayer, as we study the word of God, and keep applying it to our daily lives, the word of God becomes strongly inbuilt in us.

We are now strong enough to overcome life’s challenges because we have a strong foundation and because we have built strong characters in the process.

The Israelites

 When pharaoh let them go. God led them not by the way of the land of the philistines although that was nearer; for God said, lest the people change their minds and return to Egypt when they face war. ( Exodus 13:17)

They had been captives in Egypt for many years; God had a new life, new place for them, but they were in no condition to walk into the Promised Land. God chooses the long way. Instead of an eleven-day journey into Canaan, it took them about two to three years.

Why?

 In order to possess the Promised Land they had to fight giants. And to fight those giants, they had to be very well prepared; therefore, God chose the wilderness as the place for their training.

Later in order to possess the land, in Joshua 12:24, “They had to fight 31 kings in all.” 

These are a lot of battles.

Appropriately, God usually allows us to pass through the wilderness to train us for war. Many Christians don’t like to hear they are in a war, if you don’t believe me check (Ephesians 6:10). The minute you step into the kingdom, you immediately become a target for the enemy. Therefore, it’s paramount that God allow us to go through the wilderness to learn how to fight and win.

In the waiting, God is training you to fight.  The little day-to-day battles, are preparing you for the bigger battles ahead.

Day by day, little by little, you conquer fear, self-doubt, selfishness, despair, unforgiveness, pride…and eventually you are ready to face the giants in your promised land.

When we finally get it, our perspectives change. We now start making good use of our time in waiting.

Our grumbling, our complaining and the ‘when God when?’  Will now change to ‘God what do I need to learn here?’

In the waiting… in the process...God is working out something beautiful.

purity: How far is too far

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 “How far is too far?”

This was a question asked by a high school kid to my youth pastor during a high school mission we had attended.

 As a 3 weeks old baby Christian, my heart literally jumped when I heard him read it aloud (quite sarcastically by the way). Completely surprised by his reaction, I wondered why he was agitated by such an honest question.

He thought that this was a Christian who knew better but was testing the limits on God’s grace. Yet here I was new in Christianity and clueless on what purity meant. I wanted to know just like the person who had asked that question.

So am compelled to write this to the young person who didn’t grow up in church (like me) and everything they know about sex and purity has been what the world has taught them.

Incidentally, he never did explain. However, God knew my heart and was sure to direct me to people who could actually explain to me the biblical meaning of purity.

What is purity?   “ to be untainted or uncontaminated.”

Therefore, to be sexually pure is to be untainted or uncontaminated by sexual immorality.

Here are some things I have learnt about purity;

1. Purity is both a heart issue and a body issue

Is being a virgin the same as being pure? This was a question I kept asking myself and I honestly believed because I was a virgin, I was also pure and I connected the two together. However, I believe you can be a virgin and not be pure at the same time.

 Purity is more than abstaining from sexual intercourse it’s also being uncontaminated in your mind and heart

                                            My story

I got born again at 22 years of age. Before  this, when I was in high school I had made a decision to wait till  am married to have sex (yeah I was those weird types that believed in the ONE) I held to it, fought for it and still am.

My friends mocked, ridiculed and envied me at the same time. They thought it was crazy, some even thought I was having sex on the down low and pretending to wait. I couldn’t blame them, it was so hard. I experienced culture shock when I stepped in campus; the party scene was the in thing, there was a party every other night and with this came the drugs and sex.

Nobody was waiting for nobody.

I dated crappy guy after crappy guy, to be honest it felt like looking for a needle in a haystack kind of thing.

I wondered who am I waiting for? These guys who are busy sleeping with everything in a skirt?

 At some point, it all looked hopeless.

When I became a Christian, I met some great Christian men who were not sleeping around but were honoring God with their lives. I felt relief just to know there actually was a guy out there for me who will love that I actually waited for him.

However, as much as I was all up and waiting, I struggled with masturbation and lust (I blogged about it here).

 Whoever looks at a woman (or man) with lust has committed adultery (or fornication) in his heart. (Matthew 5:28) Emphasis mine.

Jesus was expounding on the sin of adultery but I think it can apply to purity because the people he was teaching believed it was only sin when you slept with a woman but Jesus says when you as much as look at a woman with lust God sees it as adultery .

Purity is not an outward issue it is a heart issue.

 From the outside looking in, I looked all-pure, in the sense that I wasn’t sleeping around.  Yet even though I was not having sex with the guys I dated, I was flirting, kissing, and letting them touch me in a way only my husband should. My heart was a long way from being pure.

2. My body is God’s temple.

Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives within you? Whom you have received from God? You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19)

My body a temple of God?  You mean God (creator of the universe) wants to live in me? Whew! This was huge for me.

Purity became bigger than my wedding night.  

Before this I was waiting for a guy but now my purity was coming from a place of knowing that God has made my body His sanctuary and for him to live in there I couldn’t keep polluting it.

when you come to an understanding that your body is no longer yours to do with as you please because it’s God’s temple.   Questions like “how far is too far?” will never come up again, or the even more outdated game (that we Christian people love to play) called, “can you tell me how much I can get away with and still be a Christian?”

 I am yet to attend a church that is dirty, unkempt and neglected.  we go to great lengths to keep them nice, clean and spotless.  If we start viewing our bodies as God’s temple then we will be careful to keep them uncontaminated and unpolluted.

3. Intimacy with God

God has not only made my body His temple, He also wants to be intimate (entrusted with secrets) with me, and sexual impurity hinders this.

I wanted to know God more. I wanted all His secrets.  Therefore, everything that was making me impure had to go.

The movies that were full of sexual scenes, the music that was full of lust, the magazines ,the novels I loved to read ( yes even Christian ones ) the guys that were in my life that continually caused  me to lust had to go. It was such a small price to pay to know and to be known by God.

James 4:8 says, “Come close to God and He will come close to you.”

This verse tells me for intimacy to happen, it’s not only God who draws near, and I also had to take the initiative to draw near to Him too. He meets us half way.

Here is my question, how bad do you want to know God? Do you want Him more than the kissing,  holding hands, the flirting, the movies, the music, the porn, even more than your little feelings? You cannot have it both ways. It is one or the other.

4. A pure bride presented to her groom

My purity doesn’t come from me or from anything I do. It’s a gift from God.  When you know it’s a gift then there’s no ground for boasting.

My greatest joy on waiting till am married to have sex is that, on our wedding night I will be able to stand before my bridegroom and say, “ as hard as it was here I am with no regrets and with no shame am all yours and yours alone .”

He never has to worry if there’s any man out there who knows me as intimately as he knows me, and for me this is worth all the waiting.

That’s not to say that for the ones who didn’t wait there’s no hope, there is hope because the only way you and I are pure is through the blood of Jesus. By His perfect sacrifice he has made us all pure and without blemish before God.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Jesus is the one who sanctifies me, He is the one who cleanses and purifies me with His word.

Jesus is the one who presents me to my husband as a pure bride without a spot or a blemish. Not me and my little efforts (Ephesians 5:26-27)

Its only by grace that I will stand before my husband purified. it’s by grace that am still a virgin and I know ,he will not only be glad that I waited(through God’s amazing Grace)  but He will also know it’s by Grace that this gift has found its way to Him.

 This is God’s grace; it always goes to the least deserving.

In the world we live in, it may not be the most popular thing to do. You may be ridiculed and mocked for it but to live a life of purity is to live a life that glorifies God.

Let's show the world it’s possible and let’s show them how to do it.

I choose to be pure. I choose God’s way.

Eshet Chayil: The Proverbs 31.

We live in a world that idolizes physical beauty, so as women we learn to conform to a certain set of standards.

We filter our instagram shots; we photoshop, lighten our skins because we have been told we are not light skinned enough. We starve ourselves to death to fit in to that size zero dress. Change hair color because it’s said a certain hair color is for the beautiful ones. Sometimes, even fix our noses because we believe it doesn’t look like the nose on the magazine cover.

 Yet no matter how much we try, we just never feel like we are quite enough.

Physical beauty is not a bad thing. In fact, as a woman, I love it when someone compliments me on my beauty, but if beautiful is all we will ever be then we have fallen short of our creator’s intention.

God has made us for more, so much more than hair, lips, hips and dropping it like it’s hot.

He shows us in His word who he made us to be. 

#Eshet chayil  is the epitome of beauty as defined by her creator, not as defined by the world.

Her value: More than sparkling Jewels

Who is he that can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls. (Proverbs 31:10)

We all know that nobody finds precious stones on the ground. It takes a lot of digging, lots of searching and lots of patience to get rubies or pearls. Whoever wants to possess precious stones must be prepared to go to great lengths to acquire them.

She’s not in the streets nor is she in the market places killing time (pun intended). She is hidden and rare just like precious stones.

Her loyalty: the Bedrock of His Heart

The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on, and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of (honest) gain or need of (dishonest) spoil.

She comforts, encourages, praises and does him good as long as there is breath within her. (Proverbs 31:11, 12)

Her loyalty is the bedrock of her husband’s heart; he knows she will always look out for him.

This woman knows that affirming her man is a very important God given task and she takes it seriously. Because of her loyalty .her comfort, her encouragement and her generosity this man is successful and has no need for dishonest success.

She doesn’t do right only when it’s convenient for her. Her actions are not based on how others treat her or what they think about her. She is reliable and dependable.

Her industriousness: A cut above average

She is like the merchant ships; she brings her household food from a far.  She rises while it’s yet night and gets food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.

She considers a field before she buys or accepts it.

She looks well to how things go in her household and the bread of idleness she will not eat. (Proverbs 31:14, 15, 27)

 These verses portrays a woman who goes an extra mile for quality , she doesn’t settle for a middle –of –the –road kind of service ,her acts of service are first rate .She gives her best to everyone.

She takes good care of those under her authority and doesn’t leave them to figure out their tasks. She is a good steward of her God given abilities.

Because she knows her responsibilities she doesn’t have the time to be discontented about her portion, go around gossiping nor does she have the time to sit around feeling sorry for herself all day.

Her faith: an unfailing treasure

Her lamp does not go out, but it continually burns on continually through the night (of trouble, privation, of sorrow, warning away fear doubt and distrust). (Proverbs 31:18)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalms 119:105)

It is established through this scripture that her lamp is her faith in the word of God.  Her faith burns through the night of trouble, of uncertainty, of tragedy and it does not go out.

She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are double clothed in scarlet. (Proverbs 31:21)

Scarlet is symbolic of the blood of Jesus.

 Through His blood, her family is sealed in a covenant with God. It’s also seen in the story of Rahab in (Joshua 2:18) by tying a scarlet thread on her window, her whole family was spared from the destruction that came on Jericho. To Rahab, the scarlet thread was a tangible evidence of the promise of deliverance from death.

Like Rahab, this woman has clothed her house in scarlet and she has no fear of evil days to come.

Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine and of purple (proverbs 31:22)

Linen is symbolically a clothing of purity and righteousness 

“She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling and white – for the fine linen is the righteousness (upright, just, godly living, deeds and conduct) of the saints.” (Revelation 19:8)

It’s not her beautiful hair, sparkling jewelry or fine-looking clothes that makes her noticeable but the righteousness of Christ in her that makes her stand out. Her beauty is not the worldly kind.

Purple is both a clothing of royalty and priesthood.

In the scripture, kings and priests wore garments of purple. This woman knows who she is and whose she is.

Therefore, she has taken up her role as a priest to her family and those God has put under her. She is a spiritual leader, she teaches them by her example and by her words. She intercedes for her husband, children and all those she loves. She studies the scripture diligently.

As royalty, she crowns her husband king. She’s honorable and respectful. She runs all her affairs with wisdom.

Her wisdom: A fountain of life

She opens her mouth in skillful and godly wisdom. (Proverbs 31:26)

She gives instruction and counsel with great wisdom and through this, she gives life to those who listen to her and who court her wise counsel. Her wisdom is not her own.  It’s not a worldly wisdom, or knowledge from literature, neither is it an opinion of world events. it’s a different kind, from a different source, which leaves a mark on those she touches with her life.

The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy one is insight and understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

Her fear of God is the spring of her wisdom and from God comes her insight and her wealth of understanding.

Her kindness: a model for her household

And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

She opens her hand to the poor yes; she reaches out her filled hands to the needy (whether in mind, body and spirit). (Proverbs 31: 20, 26)

She not only looks out for the welfare of her house but she stretches herself to the community. She is not absorbed in the me, myself and mine mentality. She opens her doors wide for those without a home, her table has room for the hungry, and she clothes the naked physically and spiritually with a hand of mercy. She mourns with those who mourn and celebrates with those who are celebrating. She gives kindness even when she doesn’t feel like being kind.

By this, she sets a pattern of generosity for her children and all her house.

Her beauty: unfading and enduring

She has beauty; she has charm. However, she is not dependent upon these because she knows physical beauty is short lived; clever conversation and wit grows old. She has staked her worth in something far greater and lasting, God.

Her secret is the fear of God. And for this a woman is to be praised. She cares about what God thinks about her more than what people think about her. Her main concern is God’s will for her life, not her own.

Because of who she is, her husband has reason to boast of and to praise her, her children also know they are blessed and bless her too.

She is praised above all the excellent women ; more than Esther who risks her life for her people, Ruth the woman of valor, Deborah the prophetess who takes an army to battle, Sarah the woman who conceived a generation through faith.

She excels them all just by who she is.

Let us throw away what the world has taught us a woman should be or what beauty is and run with the blueprint of God’s definition of true beauty. When we figure out who he created to be then we can set a different standard for those that come after us. 

You are  Eshet chayil .....live boldly ,live differently.

Unforgiveness: The hidden tree stump in our yards.

I don’t know about you but I have found myself compartmentalizing my hurts and wounds. There is the one for the small hurts (the these ones I can deal with kind), and the other one of, these am too scared to even look at because the demons in there are too big for me to deal with.

 For these, I just close the lid and go on a trip called, let's just pretend that everything is fine. I am fine. They are fine, and the whole world is a huge bowl of fine!

I put on a crooked smile, which only lasts for a little while, until my well-compartmentalized life begins to overflow everywhere and in everything, especially where I do not want it.

Here is a little illustration of what unforgiveness left undealt with will do to our lives.

                                          * The tree stump story*

Every homeowner wants their front yard beautiful; they plant grass, pot flowers, trim the fence, all in the quest of an eye worthy front yard.

 This couple had just moved into a new house, a new neighborhood, excited they made plans to clear the front yard and plant some nice looking grass and flowers and they prepared and fertilized the soil then went ahead and planted grass and flowers .  

A few weeks in, they noticed some white patches shooting up in the middle of their grass and flowers. Without much thought to it, they just removed the white patches and filled in the bare patches with new grass and flowers.

To their amazement, the white patches reappeared, choking out the grass and the flower seedlings. Unfazed and still determined to have the front yard of their dreams they got to work again, scraping off and replanting again.

 The problem persisted and this time it reappeared bigger and fiercer than before.

The couple decided to seek help from an old man who had lived in that neighborhood for years and was familiar with the place. They inquired if he would know why there were white patches on their front yard. The old man told them that years earlier there had been a tree cut in that very spot.

 Now with a different perspective. They dug up a big hole in the front yard.

 Lo and behold, there indeed had been a tree, and when the tree was cut the stump and its roots was left buried, hidden deep in the soil, rotted and now was poisoning the soil around it.

 To remove the white patches that were choking out their plants, the stump and the roots had to be completely dug out of the soil.

Therefore, they began the gruesome work of removing the rotten stump and its roots. This took longer than they had anticipated because they discovered that the roots had gone deeper into the soil.

There was no way around it. Slowly and painfully, bit by bit, boring brick by brick they dug up the remainder of the roots ,treated the soil ,closed up the hole and went ahead to have their beautiful front yard.

                                                               *  * * *

Just like the tree stump. Hurts and wounds, when we don’t deal with them correctly, will eventually get our attention in an undeniably loud manner. Yes, they will. When they sloppily start to peek out of the well-hidden boxes, tucked in our souls.  Bit by bit they will choke out our progress in life.

Unforgiveness has a canny way of manifesting its self. Although its different for each individual; to some its fits of rage or uncontrollable temper, to others it’s through self destructive behaviors’ while for others it’s just an inability to be close to people no matter how much we try. We can all recognize our peculiar ways. Don’t we? The thing about the past is if we do not deal with it. It has a way of dealing with us somehow.

Unknowingly we find ourselves cleaning out the front yard, trying to take out the white patches. Nevertheless, the more we clean and scrape them off, the more they continue reappearing and the more unsightly they make our front yards (Urgh!)

Frustrated and worn out, we finally realize that by ourselves we can’t get rid of the white patches. We will forever be trying to clean off the surface of our lives without really getting rid of anything.

 We understand that Jesus is the only person who can get deep into our hearts and remove every dead and poisonous root that is poisoning our hearts and our lives.

 Finally, we are now ready to ask for His help.

I have found myself muttering under my breath, “not this again!”  Flustered about something that shows up in my life long after I think I have dealt with it. Not realizing it takes a while for God to dig up the rotten roots (which have gone deep into my soul)    

Sometimes it is a fight because we tend to like our hurts. We like them because we get to feel justified to act out and feel sorry for ourselves.

                       

                              * Getting rid of the white patches*

    By allowing God into our lives.

 God is not afraid of my mess he gets into my heart and unravels everything I have hidden in there. He lovingly shows me the issues am refusing to deal with. And shows me how to completely get rid of them.

He is patient with me and gives me time to walk in forgiveness. There are times I have heard the loud whisper of the Holy Spirit saying, “its time.”  And I know He is telling me that the grace period to feel bad or to ignore an issue is over.

It is time to face it.

 Leave vengeance to God

Whenever somebody hurts, our first reflex action is to hit back and hurt them as much as they hurt us.

Jesus sets a different standard.

When He was reviled and  insulted, He did not revile or offer insults in return; when He was abused and suffered, He made no threats of vengeance; but entrusted Himself to God who judges fairly. (1 peter 2:23)

 It’s not our job to retaliate, we leave this to God who judges fairly and will not let the guilty go free. It’s Gods business how He deals with the people who have hurt us not ours. Our job is to release them into God’s hands.

Jesus already bore our hurts and wounds.

 Sometime last year, I was going through a season where I unknowingly carried unforgiveness in my heart for someone who had hurt me.  The worst part was they didn’t know that their actions had hurt me. I was not only mad at the person who hurt me but also mad at God for not protecting my heart. 

 I tried to run, I ignored it, I put up emotional walls, and I was determined to protect my heart.

Until the Holy Spirit asked me, “why are you carrying a burden that Jesus already died for?”  I remember thinking what? Where is that in the Bible?

The Holy Spirit said, “By His wounds you were healed.” (1 peter 2:24).

 Bare footed and undone, sitting on my bed, I stared at this verse and cried out, “God because 2000 years ago Jesus was heartbroken for my sake.  I no longer have to bear this I release this hurt in Jesus name! I literally felt the weight in my heart lift and finally I was free! And free indeed.

This revelation changed my life.  I was finally free to love without being afraid of getting hurt again because Jesus paid the price for every hurt and every heartache that this life would bring and I never have to bear it again.

We will get hurt because we live in a broken world with broken people, but God has made the provision for us by carrying away our hurts. We either receive healing by faith or carry the burden ourselves. It’s our choice.

Trust God to work it out for our good

 It’s sometimes very hard to imagine how something so hurtful, so awful, so appalling can be worked out for good. Still we serve a God who turns the impossible into possible.

As for you, you intended evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about the saving of many lives. (Gen 50:20)

Joseph gave this answer to his cruel brothers.  Whom 20 years earlier, had hated and despised him because their father loved him more. They had sold him into slavery and lied to their father that wild animals had eaten him. However, God had turned that for good. Right there in the land of slavery had made him second in command to pharaoh to sustain his father’s house from a seven-year famine. 

selah.

His brothers thinking they were doing him harm were actually doing them a favor. How weird is this turn of events?

Joseph is a man who had more to forgive than most people yet he shows such a remarkable character in a way that is astounding. God was able to use his painful experiences to shape and mould his character. He will do the same in our lives if we allow him.

This is a lesson for us that no matter what the enemy throws at us, no matter what hurts come our way. God is able to turn it around for our good and for His glory.

 No limit in forgiveness

Peter comes to Jesus and asks, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as up to seven times?”

Jesus answered to him, “I tell you not up to seven times but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

According to the Jewish tradition, you were to forgive as many as three times so peter thought he had really stretched himself by forgiving seven times but Jesus corrects Him and says seventy times seven which in the Hebrew language is a number without limit.

Jesus was saying in God’s economy there’s no limit in the number of times we forgive. This is not to say that sometimes, God will not allow us time away so we can heal.

It sounds impossible but with God everything is possible and He will give us the grace to be able to forgive without limit.

We forgive because we have been forgiven

God sent His son Jesus to die for our sins. He paid such a heavy price for us and for others. Their trespasses against us have been forgiven just like ours. For this reason, we are to freely forgive others.

Just because it’s a command from God doesn’t mean it comes automatically to us.

Honestly most of the times I don’t feel like forgiving. This is what I do when I feel like it’s a bit hard for me to forgive. I get honest before God.

I say, “Father I know it’s your will that I walk in forgiveness. I don't feel like it, don't even want to do it, I ask for your grace to be able to. By faith, I receive your grace to forgive--------- I put in their name, for ----------- I say what I forgive them for. I receive healing in Jesus name.”

A person, who finds it hard to give grace to others, is a person who thinks they never will require the same grace.

God bless you.