READ: Jeremiah Chs. 1-4 and Matthew 18:15-35
Not too long ago while driving on a main road, I noticed a plot of land that had a pile of dirt and rocks at least 10-15ft tall and just as wide. Next to the pile was a huge crane, which appeared to be useful for pulling an object out of the ground. On any other ordinary day, that same plot of ground would be freshly mowed, showcasing its sloping green pasture but this time it was different, this time it was a sight that could not be overlooked, it was noticeable. Immediately, the spirit of the Lord said to me “fallow ground”.
For those of you that read Part 1 of this blog series, you may recall that I said we were going to take our time on this topic and sure enough just as I thought we were done in Part 3, the Lord said otherwise.
Sometimes we take life for granted even things like; breathing, seeing, walking, talking, hearing, etc… and at other times we pass through life not really in tune with the natural and spiritual realities that are actual and present before us. We rarely pay attention to our surroundings, we miss the clues, to the point where we could almost overlook the freshly painted entry way of a frequented building, or we miss seeing the uneven pavement that causes us to stumble all because our focus and attention is usually on something else.
The same is true of how we treat our bodies and our spirit. Many of us as women of God don’t even realize what’s in us both good and bad. We don’t realize those things that the Lord is trying to draw out of us. We often have no awareness of all the things that have compiled itself upon us, rejection, regret, hurt, low self-esteem, fears, anxieties, stress, doubt, worry, weight gain, sickness, diseases, infirmities, lies, deceptions, jealousies, and evil tendencies all which have some root in unforgiveness.
If these things are not released and dealt with they are guaranteed to choke out the word of God in us. They will continue to stifle progress and growth in us as it has done for many of us to this day and we wonder why we are not further along in some areas as we know that we should and/or desire to be. In the Book of Jeremiah, we see what I would call an intriguing dialogue between a young boy and the Lord marking the beginning of a life devoted to doing the will of God. The assignment given to Jeremiah was a monumental task because it required him to present to the children of Israel prophetic messages from the Lord about the sin in their lives that needed to be dealt with.
Unforgiveness is not a handicap and not a disability, it is sin a chronic condition of mankind, but there is a way to rectify this sin by repentance and forgiving.
Unforgiveness separates us from the Lord, it separates us from loved ones, friends, relationships, and it hinders our progress and growth as believers in Christ. When we are choosing to hold on to the debt or offense made against us; we are saying to the Lord that our pain is greater than His grace and mercy, and greater than the love He has for us. We are telling the Lord that His word is not true which ultimately insinuates that He is a liar.
As Jeremiah spoked to the children of Israel there was a central theme being addressed which was “backsliding”, “returning to the Lord”, and “restoration”. In Jeremiah 3:13, the children of Israel were given an opportunity to “acknowledge their iniquities, that they had transgressed” and to “turn or repent” (3:14; 22) so that their relationship may be restored with the Lord.
Where is our faith, where is our trust in the Lord, and why have we turned our back on God? Why are we treating the Lord as if He is the one who has wronged us? I reckon that He is still a just and faithful God and a loving Father that does not change.
In Jeremiah 4:3, the Lord reaches deeper into Israel’s sin, by showing them more graphically just how deep and how bad the sin issue had become. He was letting them know that this fallow ground or “unplowed ground” (figuratively speaking of their hearts), was not usable in its current state for the purpose in which He had intended. To be beneficial for growth, the ground has to be broken up, plowed and tilled. The same is true for the human heart, it has to be plowed and tilled which can be an unpleasant experience. He has to remove those layers of unforgiveness no matter how painful it is to let it go. The Lord is looking for our hearts to be rooted and established on good fertile ground, free from the issues of this life (Proverbs 4:23-27), so that the seeds of His righteousness, the seeds of His holy nature may be sown in us to produce the fruits of the Spirit.
If we hold onto unforgiveness it is a clear sign that our hearts are not whole towards the Lord. In other words were trying to serve more than one master and have become a slave to the injustices and offenses that have been committed to us. Yes, we are the slaves, we are the ones who can’t sleep at night, the ones holding onto things that in some ways have been forgotten about or no long matters to the others involved, we’re the ones who have unmanageable health conditions, outlandish eating and spending habits, and borderline personality disorders all being camouflaged as a coping mechanism but never really resolving the issue.
So the million dollar question is what benefit (if any) does being a slave to unforgiveness bring to us…Absolutely nothing.
He wants to renew and restore our dignity as women, He wants to bring us to a place of genuine and authentic forgiveness, a place where forgiveness is not a result of being coerced but a part of our nature, a place where unforgiveness is no longer a chronic condition of our soul.
He wants to renew and restore our trust in one another, to heal and to make us whole and to put people in our lives that will be better to us than what we experienced in the past. He wants to change our frame of reference by giving us a new perspective and to allow us to experience heaven on earth, by surrounding us with a network of Saints of like precious faith who love God and who love their neighbors without reservation and with a pure heart.
Get quiet before the Lord, fast, pray, talk to Him about the pressing matters of your heart, let Him reveal those things that you can’t see that are in you and ask Him for the grace and maturity to face them. He knows you better than you know yourself and if God says it, it is true.
Amen, very good!