Archive for April, 2011

I have waited until Easter, before attempting to write this blog.

Easter is the most appropriate time to talk about the story of forgiveness, and besides I did not hear the story that I am about to tell you, of a woman who had to forgive and the results of her forgiving, until yesterday.

Being able to forgive some one, or maybe a group of people can be one of the hardest things we do ( or try to do) in our lifetime.

Forgiving someone for what they have done to you or maybe members of your family, especially when death or torture is involved, is something that goes way beyond our tolerance levels, and is something we are as humans are very ill equipped to handle physiologically. To embrace a killer of a member of our family, and tell that person they have been forgiven, is unimaginably hard.To even be in the same room as that person is hard enough.

But notice I have said forgiven..I have not said Forgotten , as no amount of time will ever make that possible.

But forgive we must. Otherwise the physiological scars that rest deep within us, will fester and gnaw away causing us grief, mental and physical decay for the duration of our time on this earth. We are told to forgive our transgressors, turn the other cheek and not to take revenge.Otherwise the grief will encapsulate our life and in many cases end it through illness prematurely.

All very well especially as in many Western Cultures we are dismayed ( or more to the point angry beyond belief) at the “mamby pamby” justice system that sees a prison term for murder whittled down to just a handful of years. Where is the justice in all that you may well ask?. Why should a deranged killer high on Methamphetamine plead for leniency on a pretence that he had a far from ideal child hood.

Especially when that same person re-offends , mostly on the pretext to return to jail ( that he loves) and use the deadly crime he commits as bragging rights to impress his fellow low life friends  in order that he may obtain a  higher pecking order within the prison.

And all this when an innocent victim in the prime of their lives are cut down , leaving family and friends grieving and deeply traumatized . I am at a loss to try to understand why the Parole period is so generous in favour of the convicted criminal, often 40% or more of the sentence. Surely there should be no guarantees of any remission to any criminal especially when the case has been proven beyond doubt.

But before casting the first stone, I can in my indignation feel God’s pain and his disappointment at my sin, and those of all mankind, since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. And no we cannot hide beyond that disobedient act , but rather acknowledge that all mankind have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.

Sure our sin is not in the whelms of Murder and slaying or inflicting injury but nonetheless we have all sinned….and  all Sin in Gods eyes is an abomination. And we are Guilty. All of us …no exceptions.

The only way God could recognise man’s sin was to bring his own son, who is free of sin, to live on Earth and die for our sin.

And this in a nutshell is what Easter is all about. Not Chocolate Easter Eggs, not Hot Cross Buns, Not Easter Shopping or having 5 days holiday, but the death of the most blameless man, crucified in the most brutal way, mocked and treated as a criminal..Not just the brutality of what happened on Easter Friday 2,000 years ago, but the triumphant resurrection that happened on Easter Sunday all those years ago.

And whilst we all are guilty of sin, we have through the promise of salvation by allowing God to work in our lives and truly believe.

John 3 :16 ( For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.

A promise not only for this life but for Eternity.

Sadly many think that because we have not murdered , raped or done heinous crime, we will automatically go to a better life in Eternity and be with God for ever.And many believe that by being ” a good person” gives us that automatic ticket to Heaven.

Sadly that is not what scripture says. It emphasises that we are all to be judged as sinners and are accountable for what we have ( or haven’t done) in our lifetime.

And our time spent with God in Heaven is all about how much time we spend with him whilst we are here on Earth. If we confess Jesus Christ as our Saviour we need to be serious not only with what we do, but also how we do it.

And Forgiveness is a very major command. ( repeated many many times in the Bible)

And so to the true story I promised. It goes like this.

A woman now in her 40′s once married but now single and separated with a delightful daughter ,had a child hood devoid of her biological parents Her mother adopted her out and despite many requests refused to tell her who her father was.. She had a volatile relationship with her mother and therefore never knew her father. She often spoke of her feelings and harboured deep grief . Despite being raised by loving Christian parents, life was one of drama and trauma ….she would be first to acknowledge ” that her life went off the rails”.

But God was not finished with her.

Slowly but surely she recommitted her life…..not to a Church building ….. but to God himself. Her persona changed. She became less ” loud”… her inappropriate language disappeared, and there was an aura of peacefulness about her.And God laid it upon her heart to forgive those who transgressed against her.

She (as hard as it must have been) ‘ forgave her mother, more importantly asked for her mother to forgive her for all the times she thought ill of her mother.

From what I understand it was a life changing and extremely moving experience.It meant the removal of a hard cancer like growth that was consuming her and had done so for decades.And her mother relented and gave her daughter her fathers address and phone contact.

From that came the chance to be reconciled with her father. A wonderful thing in itself.

But the icing on the cake came when completely out of the blue came the finance for a home for both her and her daughter something she desperately needed, a gift  that literally has blown her away, and attests to her being obedient to doing as she was told by God what to do ….and that was to forgive.

Perhaps if all medicine bottles had the Words…”.If you forgive….. then maybe your dosage can be reduced!!!

It would certainly be worth a try!!! Life is to enjoy not to merely endure !

I will write again soon

Lindsay Walker

Easter 2011.