Recently I found myself very disappointed in someone I considered a good friend. They did something to me that I felt (and still feel) was totally unacceptable and it was hard for me to swallow. I knew that I needed to forgive them and let it go but I just couldn't wrap my head around it at the time.
Not wanting to hold a grudge, I began to quote any and every scripture I could remember (and maybe a few I made up) on forgiveness. But it seemed the moment I stopped quoting scripture, I got mad all over again.
Throughout that week, I kept rehearsing what happened and when I shared it with my husband and my sister, I got even more angry -- it was like every time I told the story, the fire was being fueled. So I decided that I needed to stop talking about it because that was not helping the situation.
I'm sure you have all been there before ...maybe it wasn't a friend, perhaps it was a sibling, a co-worker, a neighbor or even someone at church. Whoever it was, they crossed you in some form or fashion and raised your blood pressure. You found yourself on this never ending cycle of anger because you couldn't quite let it go.
In time, I realized that forgiveness is very hard in our own power ... and at some point, I cleared my head and took it to God in prayer ...and yet again, God amazed me with his ability to bring an inner peace in the midst of any situation.
Prayer is by far the greatest weapon we have. Prayer causes you to change your perspective on things.
While in prayer, God reminded me of the many times I had turned my back on Him. The many times I had disappointed Him. Yet, not once has He held back his forgiveness towards me.
He also reminded me that no one except Him is flawless, so I must not put people on a pedestal or expect them to never let me down. Yes, we expect certain things like respect from our friends, however at some point, we have probably all disrespected someone we cared about. How is it that we expect people to always be willing to forgive us but when the tables are turned -- watch out!
Through prayer, I realized it was alright for me to be hurt by the situation, but it wasn't alright for me to dwell there. God healed my wounds and gave me the courage to step back out and not allow this situation to dictate my mood, attitude or behavior towards the person who offended me.
There is something to be said about the power of prayer ... next time I won't wait so long to use it!
Scripture Of The Day: "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." - Mark 11:25
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Posted By: anita moore
Monday, November 15th 2010 at 8:33AM
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