[The following is an excerpt from a FREE PDF book on forgiveness that’s yours just for the asking!]
Where was God on September 11th, or throughout the holocaust, or during any act of terror or genocide that has been perpetrated on the innocent?
Where was God in the midst of all that suffering?
The same place He was when Jesus was cruelly betrayed, spitefully mocked, brutally beaten and savagely executed. Where was God then?
He was right there: in the center of the suffering and surrounding the suffering.
As the Son, he was in the center of the suffering, literally bearing the weight of all the sin of humanity in human form. Meanwhile, as the Father and the Spirit, he was surrounding the suffering, watching unseen, but brokenhearted as His only son bled and died. That’s where God was.
Which is more difficult: enduring unjust hardship or watching your beloved endure unjust hardship? God did both.
That’s why Isaiah prophetically referred to Jesus as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
On the cross, God bore the full pain and penalty of all the sin you have and will commit in your life.
If you accept that, rejoice! But as you rejoice, understand this: he also bore the full pain and penalty of all the sins committed against you on that same cross.
Where was God in your most desperate hour?
The same place He was when Jesus was crucified. In the center of your suffering, bearing the very pain you endured. And surrounding your suffering, witnessing every wrong and counting every tear.
You know the expression: “I’m feeling you.”
God really does. He actually felt all your pain on the cross as a literal human being. That’s why he takes it so personally! Does that give you comfort?
When you realize that God takes every act of sin against his children personally (whether committed or omitted; whether intentional or accidental) how does that make you feel about the wrongs you have suffered?
Can you let yourself forgive, knowing an all-loving God literally knows your pain?
[The post above is an excerpt from Forgiveness 101, a FREE PDF book that’s yours just for the asking! Simply email us here: info@F-M-U.com. and we’ll send you a digital copy pronto. Want to read the intro first? Click here! Want to hear the story of a life God changed through the Biblical truths shared in this book? Click here! Freedom might be just a click away! (Plus 70 pages, but that’s not a very long book now, is it?)]
DNA: It’s What’s For Dating
Dug this weekend’s DNA? Be a good friend and share with your friends on the social media platform of choice: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter.
The LoveEd discipleship series, Beyond Sex & Salvation, will empower you to prepare for relational success when it counts: BEFORE you fall in love!
It’s NOT for couples, but for any wise individual who thinks they might want to get married sometime before they die. And would like to learn how to better build healthy relationships in the meantime.
Check out all three study guides in our store. You can walk through them on your own, but it’s more fun with friends (that and it kinda makes sense to grow in relational success in actual relationships with others), so consider putting together an FMU LoveEd small group study.
Even better? And ask a rock star married couple you respect to lead it!
