Matthew 6:14-15
“In prayer there is a connection
between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from
God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do
your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Often when Timothy and Nathan
work with Legos® or other blocks, something will not fit together, and
they will growl and say, “Awww…I can’t figure this out!” When I am
sewing or creating a craft pattern, there are many times that I stop and
ask, “What am I missing?” In most of these instances, we are getting
in a hurry and trying to do things “our way,” or we have not considered
the big picture. And this same principle applies to how we treat others
– and whether or not we forgive them.
If we are honest, we have
asked God at least once, “Why are you not answering me?” Now this can
have a lot of different implications. We can be asking, “Why didn’t you
give me what I wanted?” We can be saying, “I feel cut off from you –
lonely and afraid." Or we can simply be asking, “Lord, what is taking
so long?” In all cases, the answer may lie more with OUR behaviors than
with God’s responses.
I will be the first to say that I have
felt God tell me, “You are holding a grudge,” or “You’ve not done your
part yet.” I realized that the very answers I needed…the help I so
desperately sought…was blocked because of my unwillingness to forgive
another. It is amazing what can happen when we slow down, fully assess
the situation, and make the necessary corrections on our end!
So
stop and take a hard look at your life today. Where are you holding
grudges? Who do you need to forgive? What answers do you seek that
don’t seem to come…and the only explanation seems to be that YOU are
blocking the responses with your attitudes and behaviors. Isn’t it time
to open the floodgates of heaven…to forgive those as God has forgiven
you…to fully bask in His blessings and abundance? Will this be the day
that you get started?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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