When someone close to us deceives us, we are filled with pain and sadness. Despite our strong feelings of forgiving that person, we find ourselves unable to do that, though we do not seek any harm to come on him. Knowingly or unknowingly, we also hurt others through our words and behaviour. Even though we forgive and seek forgiveness, we remain stuck in that groove of pain and anger.
Way to forgiving and forgetting to move on – There are basically three aspects of what is happening around and to us. First, what we bring on ourselves because of our own deeds and decisions. These could be bad financial decisions bringing debts or evil actions that cause bad effects on our life and family. Second, is what God ordains for our lives and which is always for our good. Third, what nature brings on us, the storms, earthquakes and other events, which could be attributed to the devil also.
King David was confronted by Prophet Nathan about his sin with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uria. David realised the grievous nature of his sin and humbled himself before God in repentance, ‘Against You, You only, have I sinned’ (Psalm 51:4). As prophesied by the Prophet, the child born out of this evil liaison fell sick (2 Samuel 12:15-22). David fasted, lay on the ground and pleaded with God and despite all the efforts of the ‘elders of his house’, he refused to get up from the ground nor ate food. On the seventh day the child died and his servants were afraid to tell him that ‘He may do some harm’. Seeing them whispering, David presumed that the child might have died and on receiving confirmation, he ‘arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshipped’. He asked for food to be served to him and ate it, to the surprise of his servants.
David then informed them the right way to live and said, ‘While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ Till the last moment it is the duty of every believer to continue to plead with God for mercy. But since we cannot know the future and God’s plan, we also must be prepared for the worse. David then proclaimed his faith in life after death, not very clearly accepted in the Old Testament. For he said, ‘But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me’.
Till there was hope for healing, David held on but then let go to move forward in life. Most people keep on suffering unnecessary pain for fear of others. My wife died on Easter Sunday and as per custom of her family, the mourning period is only for four days. After her last rites, we held a memorial service on the fourth day. The only way to get my two daughters out of their grief was to organise the shoot of the program and for them to get busy with their business. We rejoice, while remembering her daily, over something or the other and thank God for her as well as for taking her home at His right time.
The Book of Job is about his sufferings and great loss, even his three friends accused him of some hidden sin. When we read, we learn about the reason for his suffering in the first two chapters. But Job did not know and in the end, God revealed Himself in His glory and Job was pleased to be restored to that close fellowship with Him. God expressed His displeasure on his three friends and commanded them to offer sacrificial offerings through Job. Job let go and forgot all that happened and how they had mistreated him, ‘And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends’.
Lord Jesus’ command is to ‘first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift’ (Matthew 5:23-24). Our prayers are likely to remain unanswered if we refuse to let go the past and move forward. God is always ready with a rainbow after rain but we miss out, for our hands are full with all the happenings of the past. We have to come to Him with empty hands of forgiveness and also emptying our hands of the burden of our sins. Then only are we ready to receive what He is holding out to us.
Forgiving and moving forward in the spiritual – The Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem had three parts; the Outer Court, where everyone could come. The Holy Place, where the Priest entered, offered incense and prayed for people. And finally, the Most Holy Place, the place where only the High Priest could enter once a year with the blood of offering to be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat for forgiveness of sins. The presence of God was manifest in the Most Holy Place. Our Lord Jesus is God and getting into His presence is to be in the Most Holy Place. As Redeemer, He was to die for our sins and God cannot die, being above birth and death (Philippians 2:7-8). He emptied Himself of the glory of God in heaven, for nothing could otherwise be added to Him. He remained God but could receive the glory of Second Adam and become Man.
The Resurrected Lord ‘was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of sight’ (Acts 1:9). Declaring the completion of His work on the earth, Lord Jesus prayed to the Father to restore ‘the glory which I had with You before the world was’ (John 17:5 & 22). He sought the Godly glory which He always had and again received in heaven after ascension. But before this He passed on to us the glory of Adam that He had come with. In heaven Lord Jesus has man’s body but the glory of God in Him, while the Man is totally submitted to God. On earth He promised us with ‘the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name’ (John 14:26). Every believer has God in him and the struggle is to bring the earthly part in us in total submission to the heavenly.
Even as Man on earth, Lord Jesus, in His spirit, dwelt in the Most Holy Place and could affect the earthly. With the Holy Spirit, we have one foot right inside the Most Holy Place while the other is trapped in worldly matters. He has blessed us with authority to ‘trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy’ (Luke 10:19). This power and authority become fully operative in us when we are as much inside the Holy Place or close to God. How far outside our other foot is, into worldly matters, decides our spiritual authority. We cannot keep jumping from one foot to the other and letting go in this case, is to refuse to be influenced and controlled by the events and situations around us.
The High Priest was to remain separated from his wife and others for seven days and immerse himself in Scriptures to prepare for going into the Most Holy Place or presence of God. Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, took their censers to offer incense to the Lord in an unauthorised way, ‘So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD’ (Leviticus 10:1-2). As per legend the two were so attracted by the glory of God manifested in the Temple, that they could not stop themselves and knowingly perished. To be fully in the presence of the Lord one has to let go of the earthly and be governed by the Word of God and His statutes. Lord Jesus has taught this, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33). With that submission Lord Jesus operated in the supernatural without getting affected by the natural. He could walk on water; calm the storms, overcome lack, defeat the devil and forgive even those who had crucified Him. He could let go of all that was hurled at Him and remain focused on His task as Redeemer.
A believer has two natures in him; one that urges him to do good and live righteously and the other to lead into sinful activities. We are controlled by the one that is the focus of our thoughts and desires. If your other foot is too much into worldly matters, they will overpower you.
Judas Iscariot had heard and seen all that the Lord taught and did, yet he sinned for his concern was more towards the worldly than heavenward. His greater sin was to have lost faith in the mercy and grace of the Lord and not turn to Him for forgiveness and to commit suicide. He was one of the twelve chosen ones and equally loved by the Lord. Lord Jesus warned and blessed Apostle Simon Peter about Satan’s effort to grab and crush him (Luke 22:31-32). But he was assured, ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’. His prayer provided the anchor for Peter to return to Him and then reach out to others. It is not only about letting go but also remaining submitted to the Lord, and this can only be done through prayer and submission.
Overcoming difficulties in moving forward- Apostle Peter had experienced the closeness of Lord Jesus and also the effect of the devil’s attack. After being taken into the High Priest’s house and when Apostle Peter had denied Him three times, The All-knowing Lord Jesus ‘turned and looked’ at him. This was not a look of condemnation but love and understanding (Luke 22:61-62). Peter understood, ‘went out and wept bitterly’.
The Resurrected Lord met the disciples at the seashore of Galilee and cooked breakfast for the disciples, who were out fishing the whole night. Lord Jesus, in the act of restoration and to help Peter let go of the past, asked him three times, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ The first two times the Hebrew word ‘agape’ was used, which means unconditional love. Peter replied affirming ‘phileo’ love, the love between two brothers or friends in a spirit of give and take and ensuring each other’s joy and happiness. Finally, the Lord asked him the third time using the same word ‘phileo’ to make him commit to that. He was grieved and replied, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You’. He could finally let go of his denial and move forward to serve the Lord with total commitment. Many years later, he could warn all believers, ‘beware lest you also fall from your steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked’ (2 Peter 3:17-18). The solution to this is to ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’.
All our battles are in the mind and the heart and the power of our right hands also flows from this. The Jewish people were commanded by Moses about loving the Lord and then to remember his teachings always (Deuteronomy 6:7-9). They were and do even today, to teach them with due effort, ‘to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up’. Even more than that, they were and are required to ‘bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes’. In Jewish and even Christian homes the Word of God is written on the doorposts and on the gates, as Moses instructed. God, who has created us, is well aware of our tendency to hold on to the past and the only way is to fill our minds with His love and His Words.
The light of the Word is so powerful that the darkness gets separated and does not control us (Genesis 1:3-4). Since it does not get removed fully, it keeps on cropping up, off and on, but we overcome that by shifting our focus to the light. The way of the world is to love your neighbour or the loved ones and hate our enemies. But as children of the loving God, we are to ‘love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you’ (Matthew 5:43-44). Lord Jesus lived what He preached and throughout His ministry on the earth, He suffered opposition and criticism, even up to and on the cross. The first recorded words of the Lord during His most agonising painful state on the cross, are about this. He prayed to the Father in heaven, ‘forgive them, for they do not know what they do’ (Luke 23:34).
After His resurrection from the grave, the Lord breathed on the disciples to bless them with the power and protection of the Holy Spirit. Then He gave them the most difficult to understand blessing, ‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ (John 20:22-23). We let go of the past and forgive others to move on in life in the peace of the Lord by off-loading our burdens at His feet. We understand this in line with the Lord’s Prayer as explained by the Lord, ‘if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you’ (Matthew 6:14). We must remember that the curses pronounced by others cannot land ‘without cause’ (Proverbs 26:2). Forgive, forget and let go of these unnecessary burdens and live a life filled with the love of God.
A true believer trust in the judgement of God for He is just and leaves vengeance in His hands. This results in our leaving all our burdens at His feet and we start enjoying peace of and with Hod and also with others, even those who have wronged us in the past. But the one who cannot let go of the past is blinded to the way forward and the doors opened by the Lord for him. We can forget and let go of the past only if we believe there is a future calling us into blessing which are yet not visible!
