Forgiveness

This week I was faced with a huge obstacle. It came down to whether I would truly hand over to God a wrong someone had done against me. My husband and I are big on accountability. This wrong had yet to be made right, and honestly I was ready to wash my hands of this whole event.

As the hour approached on that dreaded night earlier this week, I still didn't know what I was planning/wanting to do. Actually, that's not completely true, I do know what I hoped would happen. You see, all I wanted was an apology. Had it been offered I would have accepted it and walked away, (allowing this person who has caused such ruckus in my life) to breath a huge sigh of relief, as there would be no further restitution/accountability left for this person.

Unfortunately, the *mediator* told me this person had no intention of offering an apology and advised me to continue with the course of action set for the day. But what good would that do? Would it show me extending any grace at all? Simply put, no. I was worn out and ready for this situation to be done & behind me. Again, this mediator was all about being fair and justice being served; and without a correction to what was done, they were afraid that it could happen again.

I prayed right there (for what was probably the hundredth time that day) for guidance from our Father. Here I am with someone in authority telling me not to give in, then my mind telling me I'm spent, but my heart was saying "offer forgiveness." Long story short, I was able to convince the mediator that a (much lesser) compromise to their "stick it to the person" attitude would allow me to offer the following to this person:

1) show them I have forgiven them
2) let them know they no longer had any hold on me, reaffirm that Jesus does. And He has promised my safety (physical and spiritual)...and He has once again delivered me from harm!

So here I am without an apology, but that's ok. I don't need it any longer. My heart is full of God's love and what His son, Jesus has done. I am made whole by Jesus' sacrifice.