Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. Oh my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5,8
“A Better Story”. I heard these words bravely venture from the mouth of a woman I love. A woman who placed her last thread of hope in God’s ability to heal her hemorrhaging heart after the news of betrayal. This woman stood at a cross-road on her journey. She had every right to pack up her bags and her children and begin a new life—a road many shattered hearts have had to navigate before her.
Yet, she wondered what awaited her if she chose the other pathway—that one less traveled? Could God really heal something so fractured: her own heart—her own marriage? Was God wooing her down this less trampled road to reveal himself there? If she did choose that path, what would it look like? How could she ever truly forgive her repentant husband—or trust again?
These were honest questions that flowed from the fresh wound as we sat together on the floor, sharing tears and stories. I recalled the same question asked thousands of years before when Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness: Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” Matthew 18:21-22
See, Jewish law required a person to forgive a wrong three times. So Peter thought he would really impress Jesus with his generous mercy: he doubled the required number and added one: How about SEVEN TIMES? Jesus response was a drop the mic moment. Why don’t you try seventy times seven? Now if my math is correct, that is 490 times.
I’ve come to deeply appreciate that conversation between Peter and Jesus. It reveals Jesus doesn’t ask us to try harder, to will ourselves into forgiving. We might try to travel down that foreign path of forgiveness with our one broken and bleeding heart, but in our own human frailty, we will trip, grow faint, and feel justified with our anger and hate. It will be a path we ultimately despise.
Instead, Jesus offers a better way: Beloved, I’m not asking you to try harder. I’m asking you to experience something impossible without my power. I want to give you an opportunity to know my love!
This topic of forgiveness hits close to home for many of us. In my own strength, I have wrestled with it and failed. But God has been a faithful companion over my own journey of forgiveness. Over the next three weeks we are going to unpack this difficult topic of forgiveness. I can’t wait to share this journey with those of you who have found yourself navigating this difficult terrain.
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