Have you ever had a moment where you felt like you had transgressed so much in an important relationship that you felt you could never be forgiven? I’m sure you relate. There have been possibly a dozen or more such occasions in my life.
Conflict is something we cannot escape from in this life. Most likely, we will eventually make such a momentous mistake. Personally, I have experienced situations in life where I was not, or have not yet been, forgiven.
My heart cried out to God and to my neighbor: ‘Is there nothing I can do to redeem this situation?’
That’s desperate crying, isn’t it? It is the call to mercy, to somehow be offered a second chance; anything to gain access to what we thought we would never lose.
All we can really do is grieve in the manner of psalm 51. And yet this is precisely where we can meet God, in experiencing a mercy that goes beyond any mercy that another human being can offer us. For what we have lost, we have much to gain!
Especially when we want to be cleansed and have our hearts renewed, and even when we experience such spiritual revival, having agonized for days and weeks, and sometimes months and years, God intercedes by His Spirit to encourage us to obedient repentance. – It doesn’t matter what we’ve done!
God honors our honor of truth; He notes our courage; He applauds our faith; He injects us with hope. And He loves us with his love.
If we continue to be unforgiven, if we feel that his wrath towards us has not ended, or if we feel that our chances of reconciliation are fading, let us pray and then leave it in God’s hands. So let’s be disciplined enough to move on, ready to recommit to letting go the moment we hold on again.
Let us pray that God’s mercy will prevail in the person we have offended, and for patience in the meantime.