Unforgiveness to Forgiveness: I Am the Lord thy God that Healeth Thee – Part 3

READ: Psalm 103:3; Psalm 147:3; Matthew 18:15-35; and Luke 11:1-4

One of my favorite preachers (my beloved husband) said recently on a Sunday morning sermon “It’s easy to say what we would do to Goliath, until he is standing right in front of our face”.  That is a true statement and I liken it to how we so flippantly speak out of our mouths the scriptures and openly declare we’ve forgiven others…until we have to meet them face-2-face in the store, at the doctor’s office, at the gas station, in the park, at a high school reunion or better yet in a church service.  What will we do then and what will be our reaction?

There is something bad about our human nature that loves to see others suffer who have done wrong to others, we feel it is their just reward for the things that they’ve done.  Let us not forget that vengeance belongs to the Lord and that He shows mercy on who He wills, just like He has so graciously and lovingly done for us.

The real test of whether or not we’ve forgiven a person really comes to light when we have to face them or when someone else who reminds us of them comes into our life.  God certainly doesn’t want us to be phony by giving that same old “Praise the Lord” or “God Bless You” cordial; but fake song and dance; neither is He expecting us to kiss the soles of their feet.  Rather He is expecting us to greet them with lovingkindness, do good to them and not look at them with scorn or skepticism (Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28). 

I know some of us are not there yet and if that shoe size fits your foot, than take heed to this message knowing that you most likely need more deliverance in this area of your life. 

Forgiveness is a process and depending on how deeply you were hurt in that relationship it may take more time for you to heal, but if you stay before the Lord in this process, stay on the operating table (letting the Lord expose the wound, remove the problem and sew you up), keep those regular post-op and follow-up appointments (daily prayer and seeking the Lord, attending church, reading the word, fasting), then my friend you are on the right path towards total restoration and healing of your heart, mind, body and soul. That is a beautiful experience in and of itself. 

Too many of us are impatient when it comes to our own deliverance and because of that we miss those opportunities for breakthrough with the end results being no change and no spiritual growth.  There is no timing like the Lord’s timing and it is to our benefit to be in His will and to hear Him speaking to us by way of His Holy Spirit.   

The Lord does not want us to continue to be immature babes in Christ but to become mature Saints of God.

Can I be transparent with you all by saying, I did not realize the level of hurt, rejection and unforgiveness that I had towards my father until many years later after being saved, getting married and having more children.  Basically, I was living my life, busy and focused on what I thought was important to God along with doing what I felt was important to me and my household, but I had in some ways neglected a major area of my life that needed attention…which was the state of my relationship with my father.  This is no different than not taking care of the physical body, doing what pleases us, eating unhealthy, not exercising and ending up very ill for neglecting our health.

During this journey the Lord blessed me with individuals who became like spiritual parents who really took interest in my life.  Initially, I found their interest in my life to be intriguing yet slightly invasive because I had lived so long without my father having meaningfully involvement in my life; I grew numb to the notion of a “father-daughter” relationship.  When the subject of my father would come up, it was as if the Lord was exposing the infection of a wound that I thought I had been long ago healed from but it was not the case. 

Out of sight out of mind is deceitful, and telling yourself “to just get over it” is misleading because it is ignoring the issue instead of dealing with it. 

But without many more pages of details, the point I am making is that the Holy Spirit is necessary and paramount in the life of every believer, we need to be filled with His Spirit and without His Spirit we are not able to fully draw from the well of resources that is available to us from God through His Spirit.  His Spirit reveals truth and leads us into all truth (John 16:13) and that is how I found the source or the root of the issues with my father.  In this area the healing process is still in progress but what I can say is that I am grateful for the love of God and how He opens our eyes and exposes those hidden places of darkness that are within us.       

The truth is that the church (the Body of Christ) is to be an example unto the world of how a marriage should be, how the home life should be, how parenting should be and how we ought treat one another.  Let’s be the example.   

Don’t be foolish to stifle or hinder the healing process in your life, if you don’t heal properly it leaves you more vulnerable and the door of your heart open for spiritual complications to further trouble your life.  We must be spotless to enter into heaven (2 Peter 3).