When Others Fail Us 1:4
Cultivating Forgiveness and Healing: A Journey Through Hurt and Prayer
In the midst of conflict, extending grace can be a challenge.
How can we muster up the grace we’re called to have when pain pierces our hearts?
Discovering the Promise of God's Presence:
Welcome back! Today marks the beginning of a four-part series on navigating when others let us down and the unwavering support we find in God. Amid heartbreak, illness, hurt, and trials, we can lean on Him. He fills us with the water of life, renews our souls, and imparts the wisdom we need to endure.
If you’re looking for a little encouragement make sure to check out the playlist at the end of this post!
So, without further adieu…
Trusting Amidst Disappointment
How can I forgive them? When is it acceptable to be upset? How should I respond to their actions?
Have you ever experienced the sting of betrayal from those you trusted and loved? When friends or family let us down, extending the grace we're called to exhibit can be daunting. We grapple with questions: How can I forgive them? When is it acceptable to be upset? How should I respond to their actions?
These are some of the questions I have when I feel let down by people. Do you ever wonder the same? It’s times like this that we come to prayer and ask the Father for advice, help, and justice…the things we need to get through the hurt.
The Healing Power of Forgiveness
Cast off the chains the enemy wants to yolk you to, you’re a new creation in Messiah.
Forgiving someone is not about so much whether the person deserves the forgiveness as much as the act of forgiving brings us freedom from bitterness; a destructive force that can corrupt the goodness in our hearts— goodness cultivated by God.
In Matthew 6 Yeshua guides us on how to pray to the Father. In verse 12 He directs us and in verses 13-15 He elucidates why. Let’s take a look.
11 Give us this day our daily bread 12 and forgive our debt, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others in their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither your Father will forgive your trespasses. MATTHEW 6:11-15
Understanding Redemption and Renewal:
Our salvation through the blood of Messiah is undeniable. Yet, our relationship with Him entails more—salvation is a process. (Take a look at how Paul words it in 1CORINTHIANS 1:18 and 2CORINTHIANS 2:15.) We are “being saved” and transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts EZEKIEL 36:25-27. We are being saved from the consequences of sin and death that have entangled our hearts and minds. We are being “renewed” and “remade” (2CORINTHIANS 4:7-18 and EPHESIANS 4:17-32)
We are called to “put off our old selves” and “put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”
Forgiveness Through His Cross
no matter the hurt we’ve endured, we can find solace in the cross borne for our forgiveness.
I’ve faced some pretty ugly hurts. Physical and mental abuse, rape, manipulation…I’m still scarred by some of it. But even in the face of grave pain we can choose to view our perpetrators through the eyes of Yeshua. He believes that they too are worthy of redemption just like us. Let’s be real for a moment..are we really quite so innocent ourselves?
Embracing Pain WITH Yah
In the Bible, we discover countless instances where human emotions meet reverence for the Lord. Take a look at the book of Lamentations (read 1:1-4 and see how it personifies the pain of Israel as if the nation was a woman) it’s all about the hurt and frustration of the Israelites when they were carried off to Babylon. David, who was hunted by King Saul, had so many reasons to hate the King but he refused to hate him despite how the king refused to give the throne up and treated David with such disdain that He actually chased him out into the wilderness. David even had the chance to murder Saul but instead, he chose mercy.
David’s experiences reveal how to honor God despite adversity, and his mercy toward Saul exemplifies that the merciful recieve mercy. Because Yah promises “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” MATTHEW 5:7
How should we reacted when wronged?
Respond with Christlike love. I mean, it’s personal to each situation and so, ultimately, the answer lies in your relationship with YahWeh. Seek His guidance through prayer. Because He knows your heart and He has a way that He is trying to build character in you and redeem/renew your mind. But a quick and easy way to answer would be…what would Jesus do?
In all seriousness though. If you know your Lord, what would He instruct you to do when someone strikes you? “Turn the other cheek” and “Love your enemies” MATTHEW 5:38-48 are His teachings and I know this to have been His answer to me in the past!
A Journey To Healing
God enabled me to see my perpetrators through His compassionate eyes.
Growing up in my home was difficult at times. My parents love me very much, but things happened that scarred my young mind and my mom and dad had some issues they were working out in their own way…unfortunately it was not easy for me and my siblings to deal with.. putting it plainly, we dealt with physical, mental and verbal abuse throughout our childhood. It definitely wasn’t easy in any sense to get through it, but one day God put forgiveness toward my dad so heavily in my heart. I drove straight over to my parent’s home and told him something along the lines of
“Dad, I love you, and I forgive you for everything that has ever happened in our past growing up. I don’t want to live in those hurts anymore and I choose not to see you that way anymore. We have the rest of our lives to make new memories and treat each other differently, and we can start that today if you want.”
I couldn’t have done that without God changing my heart (even though at the time I was not born again I had been seeking YahWeh and I wanted to change.) And the beautiful thing is; that forgiveness brought me the best relationship I could ask for with my parents! We hang out, call each other weekly, take care of each other. It’s the most beautiful reconciliation I could ask for. God’s transformative power enabled me to see my perpetrators through His compassionate eyes, and His love mended our relationship.
The Path to Reconciliation:
I could go on, but I think this would be a better place to end with some food for thought as you go about your week. Our journeys involve reconciling with those we’ve hurt or who have hurt us. Examine your heart before YahWeh, resolving any lingering conflicts. Seek peace with fellow believers, adhering to the structure outlined in MATTHEW 18:15-20
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[fn]in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Parting Thoughts:
May these words resonate with you as you go about your week. Is there anyone you haven’t made amends with? Approach God in prayer asking Him to reveal unresolved matters. Strive for forgiveness, and find peace either through reconciliation or by following the biblical framework.
If oyu haven’t already, check out my podcas (link at the top). For moments of solace and connection with God, enjoy the playlist below on YouTube.
Until next week!
Shalom,
Dayna
Special Encouragement PlaylistWeary Traveler - Jordan St. CyrHallelujah Even Here - Lydia LairdOut of My Hands - Jeremy Camp