Forgiving the Inexcusable

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At our cabin in the mountains winter encroached all at once, dumping eighteen inches of snow. To make matters worse, temps hovered in the teens for a week, and thick clouds refused the sunlight.

The winter snow receded much more slowly than it arrived, the last bit disappearing during the final days of February. Then, just as I grew used to warm days, winter reminded me she was still around.

Not Forgiving ~ Winter in our Heart

Isn’t wintertime a vivid picture of not forgiving–of resentment, bitterness, and holding on to grudges?

I know. It’s not our fault that the inexcusable happened, that someone encroached in an area in our lives to which they had no right. Like a winter storm, a weight of hurt unloads in our hearts, leaving us frozen and cold.

Sometimes that iciness seems like the easiest way to handle the hurt. It somehow numbs us to the full sensation of pain.

Or so we think.

Not Forgiving ~ The Cost

In truth, not forgiving and maintaining that icy cold resentment comes at great cost and energy to our personal lives. Much like a frown, we use more muscles to hold on to our anger than we do in letting go. Meanwhile, to add insult to our injury, our offender seems content and happy, even unaware of our pain.

Sometimes we begin to thaw until one brief mention or memory brings fresh hurt to our hearts and winter returns.

Forgiving ~ The Warmth of God’s Love

So how can we reach a place of forgiving–of thawing out our hearts? The only way is to allow the warmth of God’s love to shine and realize how He forgave the inexcusable in us.

Once His warmth spreads relief through our cold and hardened hearts, we comprehend more fully what our offenses cost Him. Only then can we shuck our icy layers of not forgiving–all the bitterness, resentment, and vengeance–and instead respond to our offender with love and grace.

As I continue to work on edits and re-writes of A Bridge Unbroken (book 5 in the Miller’s Creek Novels), I sometimes struggle to adequately portray the concept of truly forgiving others. At other times I’m overwhelmed by just how much God has forgiven me. When I’m tempted to hold a grudge, to hang on to resentment and bitterness, to bemoan how poorly someone has treated me, just one miniscule thought of God’s forgiving the inexcusable in me is enough to put everything in proper perspective.

The Way of Grace ~ A story of grace and forgiveness in spite of personal devastation.

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