Once a month, I help host a Girls Night Out for tweener girls at our local YMCA. We met last week and our theme for the evening was Soul care and taking care of the inner lives. We planted seeds in pots to represent the idea that we will grow what we plant in our lives.
Last night I was surprised to walk by my daughter's pot and see the sprout of her Bachelor Button flower had popped through the soil. Somehow this Dollar Store seed being planted, heavily watered, spilled, etc. in a group of rambunctious girls... actually survived and GREW! A miracle, indeed.
I am struck by how miracles grow right in the middle of messy situations. In fact, I wonder if maybe that's the recipe for a miracle. Let me explain.
I had a phone conversation yesterday that showed evidence of a 'sprout' of life and healing in my life. The person and I were talking about a situation that had caused us both intense pain and loss. I found myself talking about forgiveness and what it really looks like. It's a miracle as I see how God has been working in me.
Forgiveness is a work of God's grace in my heart, and not dependent on a person.
It's great when you have a relationship that will work towards reconciliation and ask / receive forgiveness. But the truth is, I don't have to wait or be held captive to a person who is not able or wanting to reconcile. I can bring the sin and transgression to the cross of Jesus Christ and allow it to be crucified and buried with Him. This is the crux of the Gospel and what the cross is for - to make right that which cannot be made right any other way. Even if you do have reconciliation in the relationship, I think this is still a powerful aspect that must be experienced between you and God in your heart.
Forgiveness is a choice to release, and not hold on.
There is something innate in our hearts that cries out for righteousness and justice. I have a lot of reactions when my rights are violated. I've found it's really worth letting go and putting in the hands of a God who is just and who vindicates my life. This is not denial or pretending I don't hurt, it's choosing to place it where it can best be taken care of - His hands. When I work hard at protecting or proving myself - all I get in return is tired and frustrated. It's a trap to try to control something that is not mine to control.
Forgiveness is freedom.
It was hard at first, but once I planted forgiveness in my heart; the most wonderful fruit of freedom took root. I am no longer defined by the injustice or pain. I am defined by the power of Jesus' love and his death and resurrection. I am free to live. I am even free to love the very person who has wounded me.
Forgiveness is the story of redemption.
When I walk with Jesus and in forgiveness, I experience the miracle of redemption. Yes, miracles grow in messy places.
"And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." Luke 9:23-24
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Galatians 2:20-21
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