Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20
The reality of God’s forgiveness in our lives is transforming beyond what we can explain. His forgiveness is beyond us because it’s His forgiveness – it’s not something we could pull off ourselves. How do we it? We ask Him. We ask Him to forgive for us. The amazing thing about His forgiveness causing us to live in its deliverance where we’re not trapped by grudges is that God does it Himself.
The more we turn to Him and receive His grace and mercy that changes us, the more we are able to pass along the same. When we live on His forgiveness, we do pass it on to others.
It doesn’t mean we forget and allow abusers to continue in their ways as that isn’t love or the help of forgiveness. God will deal with those people just like He deals with us. It’s not always in a time we prefer, but He does. It’s our place to give those people into His care to deal with in His way and time, with His love and ability to change people. He sees the harm done to us and knows how to handle it.
Our place is to turn to Him, receive His ability to change our own hearts and then we see evidences of forgiveness through our words and actions. We begin to see God’s ways of working things out through us that show His character and not our meager ways of getting by in a tough place of needing to forgive someone.
Since we all need to forgive and be forgiven, as people who all make mistakes, this is an amazing gift God provides us out of His own initiative and character. We may be angry at times, but the way forgiveness runs our lives is that a continual settled state in our hearts is present that is acting, just as we automatically breathe, to show the looking over of offenses, the kindnesses we would not be able to make happen on our own. It’s the going back into our thoughts via God’s grace, though it take time getting past our fears and wounds, and finding we are able to think and then offer the words, “I forgive” that makes His grace so incredible. And every time He does this, He shows us who He is and what He is like.
The time when it’s most difficult to turn to God about forgiving is always now. If you’re in a place that feels impossible to forgive, tell Him. Tell Him if you find it impossible to forgive someone. He will do it for you, through you. He already knows when something is too much for you to bear. But He also already has a solution in mind because He knows that forgiveness means deliverance and healing. Ask Him to reach you in a way that you can understand and respond. He wants you to forgive more than you do. Tell Him that you don’t know where to start in communicating with Him about it if that’s the case. He already knows every detail, every need, and is with you through it.
