Forgiveness

Back in May I shared a little bit about a broken relationship.  Things are better, but well, still broken. Except that I know my God, I would have given up.  Except that I know my God, I would have walked away.

I won’t go into gory details but suffice it to know, I am wounded.  And I think it is fair to assume the other person is wounded as well.  So as I am working through these emotions, the most exciting thing happened.  I found this priceless jewel.

Are you ready?

In Sunday school, my friend is teaching from Exodus, chapter 1.  My Bible is laying open on my lap with Genesis 50 on the left and Exodus 1 on the right.  All of a sudden I hear God whisper to me, "Do you see it?”  I thought to myself, “What should I see, God?”  He replies, “The legacy of forgiveness.”

The legacy of forgiveness.  Wow.  Tears filled my eyes and the picture comes into focus.  I see Israel as this nation, 2 million or so people living in Egypt.  Did you know that when they went to Egypt about 400 years earlier they were a family of 70?  Now, at the time of Moses they are a nation. A nation in bondage to the Egyptian Pharaoh.

But God is about to rescue them.  You see his promise to Abraham was to make Abraham's descendants too numerous to count. But God also promised that the world would be blessed through Abraham's descendants.  This blessing comes wrapped in swaddling clothes, dies on the cross for our sins, and rises again to sit at the right hand of the Father.  His name is Jesus.

God is going to preserve this nation and bring forth our Savior through the nation of Israel.  We get to experience God and know God because of this nation.  A nation that would not exist except that one page before and 400  years earlier, Joseph chose to forgive.  Joseph chose to leave a legacy of forgiveness.

Oh, Lord, that I may forgive as Joseph did. May I forgive as you do.

So, my friend, whatever comes into your life that might hurt your heart or wound your spirit I pray that you would be quick to give it to God, quick to put it behind you and especially quick to focus on the legacy of forgiveness.

Postscript 9/2/2013  As I have been contemplating this forgiveness legacy; it occured to me that offense is Satan's greatest weapon because forgiveness is God's greatest offer.  Read that again and let it sink deep into your heart.