Old Hurts....Dig Deep

Matthew 18: 23-35 (NCV) The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. When the king began to collect his money a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. But the servant fell on his knees and begged, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.” The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. The he let the servant go free. Later that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!” The other servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me and I will pay you everything I owe.” But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. When the other servants saw what had happened they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened. Then the master called his servant in and said “You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.” The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed. “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother and sister from your heart.”

Do you have a hole in your heart? Perhaps the wound is old…and you’re angry. Or perhaps the wound is fresh and you’re hurt. Part of you is broken, and the other part is bitter. Part of you wants to cry and part of you wants to fight. The tears you cry are hot because they come from your heart, and there is a fire burning in your heart. It’s the fire of anger. It’s blazing. It’s consuming. Its flames leap up under s steaming pot of revenge. And you are left with a decision: “Do you put the fire out or heat it up? Do I get over it or get even? Do I release it to resent it? Do I let my hurts heal or do I let hurt turn into hate?

Are you allowing your hurts to turn into hates? If so, ask yourself: Is it working? Has your hatred done you any good? Has your resentment brought you any relief, any peace? Has it granted you any joy? Allow the hole in your heart to heal. (Lucado)

I read this passage from the bible and Max Lucado’s comments this morning. We all struggle with “Old Wounds”. What happened to our forgiving spirit? The church has become so self sufficient that we don’t rely on the example of Jesus to lead us. The church board made a decision you don’t agree with, someone posted a comment about you on Facebook, someone lied to you…the list goes on. How do you react to these wounds? Jesus says that “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother and sister from your heart.” Forgive from your heart! Dig deep…move past…love…and forgive! Each time that we don’t forgive it’s like saying to Jesus, “your gift is not sufficient”. Jesus has wiped away the debt that you owe Him. In a society that is hurting it is time for sons and daughters of God to embrace forgiveness. We will then be honoring God for the debt he forgave from us.

Dig deep…move past…love…and forgive FROM YOUR HEART!

Ninety, Pregnant and Trusting God

God has a plan for you….and me. I was reading today in Genesis. Thinking back to when Sarai was told by God that He would bless her with a baby. I remember when I found out I was going to be a dad for the first time. The baby room was started right away and we picked out clothes (even though we didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or girl). Sarai was 76 when God told her this! Regardless of her age she was excited as I was at the age of 31. The problem lies in the fact that for 14 years she didn’t get pregnant. Can you imagine her disappointment? I’ll bet she told all her friends she was going to have a baby, I bet she worked on the baby room and started getting things around for this baby that she wanted her whole life. After all she heard it from God himself…it has to be accurate…right? Imagine the defeat she must have felt as year after year the hope just dwindled away. Do you think she started to wonder if God forgot about her? I’ll bet she did….

Then at the age of 90 (Abram was almost 100) God informs them that they are going to have a baby. And the laughed…they laughed…and they laughed. Was this some kind of joke? They laughed because they had given up hope, and hope born again is always funny before it becomes reality.

Isn’t that what we do when someone says they can do the impossible….Laugh? God is still in the business of doing what he does best…THE UNBELIEVEABLE!

For Abram and Sarai their faith grew leaps and bounds. Do you think they ever had a problem truly trusting God again? God gives us answers to our prayers and cries every day. God will follow through when the time is right. Sometimes the answer comes immediately and sometimes the answer comes when you are 90 years old and find out your pregnant.

Stop rushing God and trust Him. Listen to Him and he will change the way you define the work “impossible”. God is still very much a part of our lives. Our lives just need to slow down to be very much a part of God.