I sure missed being at church Sunday!
While I was not feeling well, I read a book given to me by my friend Kevin Griffin. It is called “Love Does” and was written by Bob Goff. He told a story that has stuck with me
In this story, Bob owned a jeep which he LOVED. It wasn’t a fancy car, but it had a special place in his heart. One afternoon on his way home from work, he was broadsided. The hit was hard enough to throw him out of the jeep and send the jeep rolling. When he got up off of the ground, he went to check on the person who had hit him. He said that when he looked down into the car, there sat an elderly woman who could barely see over the steering wheel which her hands were gripping tightly. Her name was Lynn, and she was very upset. Feeling sorry for her, Bob did everything in his power to ease her anxiety. She apologized profusely, and he reassured her that he was fine. After his jeep, which was totaled, was towed away they exchanged numbers.
The next day he got a phone call from Lynn once again apologizing. Then a few days later she called again with a heartfelt apology. And yes, you guessed it, she called again a few days later. He called a local florist after about the 4th time and had them put together a bouquet of flowers for her and deliver them to her, with a card that read; “Dear Lynn, It was great running into you…now stop calling me! Bob”
She got the message and was able to forgive herself. He was thankful this series of events because it taught him something about faith. When God is big enough and loves us enough to say that He forgives us, we should actually believe Him. We shouldn’t keep feeling bad about all the times we’ve messed up because that is ignoring what God said, just like Lynn ignored what he said. When we don’t trust God’s forgiveness, it’s kind of like saying I really don’t believe He’s that good.
Lynn made Bob think he should stop asking God to forgive me over and over when He’s made it clear He already has.
I ‘ve always wondered about this, and my feeling is that our humanity doesn’t allow us to forgive ourselves. Since we can’t forgive ourselves, we have a hard time being assured that God has forgiven us.
We serve a mighty God! Don’t waste precious moments on this earth living with guilt and shame. He has told us that in His eyes, we are not guilty!
Shine, Shine, Shine!
Tina