Setting the Lord free to act

I awoke this morning from a dream that reminded me of an old injustice perpetrated in the distant past. I had dealt with it, and had, in my not always humble opinion, gone the second mile in seeking to live at peace with this person. I had long since given them a gift (again in my not always humble opinion) that they did not deserve, the gift of forgiveness. But with the memory, I found resentment beginning to rise again in my breast!

I knew what to do, and I did it immediately, and as I did so I was given in my mind’s eye a picture of a situation where an older sibling was seeking to correct a younger child. And in this situation the mother had to deal with the older child first. In other words the older child had to be gotten out of the way, before the mother could deal with the younger one. So it is with us, and this is what I mean by the title of my post, that the Lord needs to get us out of the way before He will deal with the other person. He puts it this way “Vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay” (Romans 12:19)!

So what I did, was to do it again, to give myself (for my part) and them a gift neither us deserve, the gift of forgiveness. And as I did this joy and peace returned. In fact my joy overflowed as I was able to share with the cleaning lady with the Monday blues, the practicality of these amazing truths.

Father, thank You for your patience both with me and others. Thank You that You are a God of justice, and that I can trust You to do what is right. Thank You Lord that obedience to Your Word sets me free, and I pray this morning for the freedom of the other party in Your precious Name Amen