FORGIVING THE PAST 

And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.  Isaiah 6:7 

 
I can remember many people who had current issues based on past experiences. This is true for most people. Though many seek total happiness, it always seems to slip through their hands because of the past. Many have tried to forget the past instead of learning to forgive the past.

I have talked to women who have been raped and molested. There is so much anger inside. If one is filled with anger where is the room for God to step in and heal? The healing process must first begin with each of us. No, it is not fair that someone did horrible things to you, but you will never get past the hurt until you forgive.

Forgiving is easy to say, but sometimes hard to do. Forgiving requires praying for yourself as well as the person who inflicted the pain. The prayer that you say for that person might possibly save someone else from being victimized.

Remember in John 4 the story of the Samaritan lady at the well. When she met Jesus at the well He told her to drink of a water that would cause her to thirst no more. Jesus told her all about her past. He told her about the men she had slept with. He told her about the current married man that she was sleeping with. But because of His love for us He offered her forgiveness. He offered her forgiveness of her past.

This is what we have to do. I know that it is not easy. How can you move forward with the heavy baggage of the past? If your parents weren’t good parents, forgive them anyway. If you got pregnant at a young age and your life has taken on a totally different path than you would have chosen, forgive yourself and move on.

Forgiving is about being able to move on in life by forgiving both yourself and the other person/situation. God has much work for you to do. God allowed you go through what you’ve gone through in life because He knew you could handle it. He did not cause it, but His grace covered you so that you would survive. Many would not have survived, but even in the midst He held your hand as you lived through the past. So now it is time to let go. Forgive everyone and everything because the past is gone. The past will never be replayed again in the exact same manner. Trust God to lead the way going forward.

So today as you begin to work on forgiving the past remember that God loves you. He will be there to help you cry as you deal with the last remnants of the past hurts.

Remember weeping may endure for the night, but JOY does come in the morning. Just trust that even though you can’t see Him with your eyes, you can feel Him with your heart and know that He is there for you.

 Jacquelyn Harvey