I'm amazed, I'm overjoyed, I'm still processing how awesome God is! Does He ever just smack you in the face with His grace, blindsiding you to the point of unbelievable dismay, overwhelming gratitude? I don't know whether to cry with joy, dance or sing!
It all started with a decision, and not of my own power but by God's grace, a decision to forgive someone from my pre-teen and early teenage years. A friend but the kind that kept you on a string, someone that you were hurt by but someone that you also inevitably hurt. An extension of grace in the form of a Facebook request as if to say the past is the past, let's move on to whatever God has for us. I've forgiven you, whether or not I ever receive an apology.
Fast forward a few days...you're having a terrible morning. The days at work have been draining, emotionally and physically. Satan knows this pain and turmoil and he tries to dig in deeper. You remember that friend request that is sitting out there and decide to "unfriend" to save yourself the embarrassment. Fear sets in...what if this person hates you? What if this person is laughing at you, thinks you a fool? What if this person never realizes how much you were hurt by their actions? And the worst...what if this person never knew how much you agonized over what you decided you must have done wrong, something that had to have been awfully terrible to distress the friendship.
And as you log into Facebook that morning you see that the friend request has been accepted. A breath of grace washes over you, Satan loses, the victory has already been won! And little do you know that God is about to astound you even more...
You move on, you go to a bonfire at a friend's house and enjoy excellent company. The doorbell rings and several people walk in. Forgetting that breath of grace, fear sits in as you see who the last person is and you scamper away to the fire outside hoping they did not notice you. You laugh and joke and you enjoy other friend's company but ultimately decide to leave the party early because you work early in the morning and you have become afraid of this encounter again. Do you have the strength to forgive, to let go and let God use this moment for His grace, His mercy, and His glory? Of course not, you run away with your tail between your legs.
Fast forward to Sunday morning. You're refreshed, you're renewed and you're ready to receive God's blessings and promises. While greeting other friends they sneak up on you again, but this time you have no other option...you have already hugged everyone else in the group so you hug them as well with a big albeit nervous smile, and you meet their fiancé. You congratulate them in person and laugh saying you probably have already done so on Facebook but wanted to in person as well. And then you make an excuse to run away before your tongue slips, still being afraid of what may be on the end of it.
Sitting by the waterfall wall is one of your favorite places to sit in church, to see God's people gathered and greeting and to hear the soothing, continual fall of water. (Similarly you will soon realize to his ever falling, ever present grace.)
This person comes and sits next to you, they ask you about your life, they joke about theirs. Then they lean in and you can see how hard this is for them, how much they want to erase the past, maybe even more so than you do, and they apologize. They promise you that that is not the person they are or want to be and they assure you that the only way they can earn your friendship and trust back is by continually, consistently being a better person and extending God's grace and love to you.
You're blown away! You laugh and cry at the same time and make apologies of your own. Of course you forgive them, and you really did stop blaming them a long time ago for any pain they might have caused. God's grace washes over like a waterfall...forget rain or splashing, you are drowning in God's grace and it is the most, amazing, pure and beautiful thing! You laugh and hug and tell each other you love one another. Amazed and in a daze you go into the sermon, just to be more fully washed over in His grace through the worship and the message.
All I can say is, that God does the most amazing things. And when that kind of grace has been extended to you, and shown to you...the natural response is to want to share it. Not that this suffices but I will be looking for more individual opportunities to extend it.
To those I have hurt, I am sorry. I am trying to be more gentle, more observant, more gracious and more kind. To those I have lied to, or deceived, I am sorry. I am trying to be more honest and more trustworthy.
And to you dear friend, I am excited to see what God has in store for us. I promise to renew and refresh daily and to always be reminded of the grace he has extended to both of us.
Ahsante Baba Mungu, you never fail to amaze me.
It all started with a decision, and not of my own power but by God's grace, a decision to forgive someone from my pre-teen and early teenage years. A friend but the kind that kept you on a string, someone that you were hurt by but someone that you also inevitably hurt. An extension of grace in the form of a Facebook request as if to say the past is the past, let's move on to whatever God has for us. I've forgiven you, whether or not I ever receive an apology.
Fast forward a few days...you're having a terrible morning. The days at work have been draining, emotionally and physically. Satan knows this pain and turmoil and he tries to dig in deeper. You remember that friend request that is sitting out there and decide to "unfriend" to save yourself the embarrassment. Fear sets in...what if this person hates you? What if this person is laughing at you, thinks you a fool? What if this person never realizes how much you were hurt by their actions? And the worst...what if this person never knew how much you agonized over what you decided you must have done wrong, something that had to have been awfully terrible to distress the friendship.
And as you log into Facebook that morning you see that the friend request has been accepted. A breath of grace washes over you, Satan loses, the victory has already been won! And little do you know that God is about to astound you even more...
You move on, you go to a bonfire at a friend's house and enjoy excellent company. The doorbell rings and several people walk in. Forgetting that breath of grace, fear sits in as you see who the last person is and you scamper away to the fire outside hoping they did not notice you. You laugh and joke and you enjoy other friend's company but ultimately decide to leave the party early because you work early in the morning and you have become afraid of this encounter again. Do you have the strength to forgive, to let go and let God use this moment for His grace, His mercy, and His glory? Of course not, you run away with your tail between your legs.
Fast forward to Sunday morning. You're refreshed, you're renewed and you're ready to receive God's blessings and promises. While greeting other friends they sneak up on you again, but this time you have no other option...you have already hugged everyone else in the group so you hug them as well with a big albeit nervous smile, and you meet their fiancé. You congratulate them in person and laugh saying you probably have already done so on Facebook but wanted to in person as well. And then you make an excuse to run away before your tongue slips, still being afraid of what may be on the end of it.
Sitting by the waterfall wall is one of your favorite places to sit in church, to see God's people gathered and greeting and to hear the soothing, continual fall of water. (Similarly you will soon realize to his ever falling, ever present grace.)
This person comes and sits next to you, they ask you about your life, they joke about theirs. Then they lean in and you can see how hard this is for them, how much they want to erase the past, maybe even more so than you do, and they apologize. They promise you that that is not the person they are or want to be and they assure you that the only way they can earn your friendship and trust back is by continually, consistently being a better person and extending God's grace and love to you.
You're blown away! You laugh and cry at the same time and make apologies of your own. Of course you forgive them, and you really did stop blaming them a long time ago for any pain they might have caused. God's grace washes over like a waterfall...forget rain or splashing, you are drowning in God's grace and it is the most, amazing, pure and beautiful thing! You laugh and hug and tell each other you love one another. Amazed and in a daze you go into the sermon, just to be more fully washed over in His grace through the worship and the message.
All I can say is, that God does the most amazing things. And when that kind of grace has been extended to you, and shown to you...the natural response is to want to share it. Not that this suffices but I will be looking for more individual opportunities to extend it.
To those I have hurt, I am sorry. I am trying to be more gentle, more observant, more gracious and more kind. To those I have lied to, or deceived, I am sorry. I am trying to be more honest and more trustworthy.
And to you dear friend, I am excited to see what God has in store for us. I promise to renew and refresh daily and to always be reminded of the grace he has extended to both of us.
Ahsante Baba Mungu, you never fail to amaze me.
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