Travelin' by Faith - It IS All About Forgiveness

Think about it.  How many walls are put up between us and friends, between us and family members, between us and co-workers or WORSE between us and God because WE can’t or just plain won’t forgive?  Someone has hurt us in some way, little or big and our hearts cry out for justice.  There are man’s laws which deal with injustice in the world but what about the injustice we have to deal with on our own for which there is no law?   Is it possible we have decided un-forgiveness is that law?

 Does the fact that someone paying for an injustice, whether it is from man’s law or our own law of un-forgiveness, really put our hearts at rest or does it simply satisfy our need for revenge?  Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.  Our hearts are still left with the pain, the hurt, the emptiness that comes from wrongs against us or wrongs we’ve done to others.  The story that prompted this blog was the execution of Troy Davis for the murder of Mark MacPhail.  On one side you have people who support the death penalty and on the other side you have those who are opposed.  I see both sides and understand where they are coming from.  What I wonder though is what is in the heart of someone crying out, for lack of a better word and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, “crucify him!”  Is that a cry for justice or a cry for revenge?  Or is it really a cry for someone to heal their pain and fill the hole in their hearts from a terrible loss?  And is someone else being killed going to heal their pain?  If it does, what does that say about the condition of their heart?  This blog isn’t about whether the death penalty is just or not.  This blog is about the power of forgiveness in everyday life.  Does justice really satisfy by itself or is there something else that must come along?  Sometimes justice alone can’t satisfy the deeper need.  And, just what is the deeper need?

When Jesus denied Himself and gave up His life for God’s cause, it wasn’t only for justice to be satisfied in God’s “court of law.”  Jesus provided a way for God to forgive us.  Justice came not by itself but with forgiveness.  In Micah 6:8 God tells us what is good.  He tells US to act justly and love mercy which is exactly what He did for us through Jesus Christ.  Forgiveness is what we needed the most.  Forgiveness is the deeper need. 

Think about if from a personal perspective.  Is there a wall between us and a friend, family member, co-worker or worse, God?  Is the wall still there because of the act of injustice OR because we haven’t forgiven?  This question can be quite offensive.  It means we have to look at our own individual circumstances as well as our own hearts and ask ourselves this question.  There’s a lot of “yeah, but…” and finger pointing that will come from a question like this.  I believe what is most important about facing this question in our lives is discovering the condition of our own hearts AND realizing the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  The first battle comes with facing the question.

I’m not sure there is any greater burden we can carry than the burden of un-forgiveness.  If you have ever carried the burden of not forgiving someone, not being forgiven or not forgiving yourself you know what I mean.  The tragedy is we can carry these burdens without realizing it and if we’re not careful we end up carrying them for a lifetime.  If we’re not careful they can kill us and not just physically but emotionally and spiritually. 

Like the song says, there is power in the blood and I believe its greatest power is that of forgiveness.  If it weren’t for God’s forgiveness, there would still be a wall up between us and Him.

Travelin' By Faith - Whose GOD is the LORD?

August 2011

I began this month re-reading the chronological bible. I am in Exodus right now and was reading in chapter 6 when God spoke to Moses and told him “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” This is just before God begins showing His power to Pharaoh before he sets the Israelites free. As I continued reading I realized there was a transition from “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” to “I am the LORD your God.” I wondered about this and asked God “why the distinction?” Why is it important for them to know you as LORD? I sat and pondered this for a minute and then looked up the word lord in the dictionary. I find it very helpful to look up words even though I know the basic meaning because sometimes I find a little something extra that helps me understand what God is trying to teach me. It means many different things but the one that jumped out at me was “one having power and authority over others, a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due.”

You see, the Israelites in bondage grew up in the Egyptian culture where many gods were worshipped. When God made the distinction between “God Almighty” and “I am the LORD,” He was setting up His sovereignty, His supreme power over not only them but all people and all gods. He wanted to make sure everyone understood then and now, HE alone is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. This helped me to understand the transition God was making with Moses at this time. It was very necessary. The LORD God told Moses He had raised the Egyptians up for just this very purpose, to show His power and, that His name might be proclaimed throughout all the earth.

Calvin and I had a job picking up in St. Charles, MO. One of the roads we were on to get to the interstate was “Kings Highway.” I thought “Oh wow! Kings Highway!” It brought to mind an old childhood song “Highway to Heaven” which of course I began singing to myself. The words of the song that struck me were “happy are the people whose God is the LORD…” I stopped singing all of a sudden and thought deeply about those words “whose God is the LORD.” Think about that for a minute. “whose God, is the LORD.” What other god is there? Many! Even in that little childhood song there was a distinction. The psalmist sings these exact words in Psalms 144:15.

As I continued reflecting, God brought to my mind a little more of what I had been reading. At one point, Pharaoh had told Moses that he did not know the LORD and he was not going to let the Israelites leave Egypt. I thought this was interesting that he did not know the LORD. The Egyptians are descendants of Ham (Noah’s youngest son - GEN 9:18, GEN 10:6) who should have known God because He saved their ancestors from the flood waters. For some reason the Egyptians moved on with their lives leaving God behind. Unfortunately, I can relate to this. Interesting though how they desired something or someone to worship because they made for themselves so many other gods. Maybe up to this point they did not know God was real. When the Israelites packed up and left Egypt there’s one verse that tells us “many other people went up with them.” (EXO 12:38) I find that so interesting. I can’t help but think those were the Egyptians who saw the power of the LORD God and realized He is real, unlike the gods they had made up, and wanted Him to be their God too. How many of us at some point in our lives thought we knew God only to find out later we didn’t really know Him at all, but only knew of Him? Now I understand why the distinction. I thank God for sharing His wisdom.

The psalmists says it so beautifully in Psalms 119:130

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

And to this I say “AMEN!”

And yes, I am keeping this simple. As Calvin pointed out after reading this for the first time, there is more to “LORD” in all caps in the bible which I’m sure one day will bring me to an even deeper meaning. But for now, I am satisfied with the way God unfolded His message to me in the simplest way so I could understand.

Just like with the Egyptians and the Israelites, God will find a way to let us know He is real and not some abstract thought.