Life can get complicated at times. What we perhaps don't realise is that it is us who are making it so. We tie ourselves in knots totally unnecessarily.
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17
We need to learn to be more childlike, revert to our childhood ways. Children are so simple, forgiving, loving, believing and trusting. They keep their lives simple. Many people are living in the Kingdom of God but are not enjoying living there as they have the wrong approach, as in, they persist in making everything complicated when what they need to do is accept simplicity for what it is.
One of the biggest problems of complexity is a lack of forgiveness among us. There are too many angry people out there who are bitter from holding grudges which achieves nothing but steal peace and joy. This is not pleasing to God. When we get hurt by someone, we need to make the right choice for us; choose to let it go, just as David did with Iliad. Turn away from the things that wound you. Most people or issues that have hurt you have done so unintentionally, ergo the perpetrator has no idea that they have hurt you, so it is the wounded person that is hurting the most.
The power of forgiveness should not be underestimated. When you forgive you are not doing God or your enemies a favour, you are actually releasing yourself from the hurt, giving yourself much needed freedom. But yet again, we complicate this by giving reasons in our mind not to forgive. This is a total waste of time. It will get us nowhere except a more painful place. God will be our vindicator if we are obedient and open the door for Him.
The highest form of spiritual warfare you can ever enter into is being sincerely nice and kind to someone who has badly hurt you. The Bible says, "Love your enemy". Do yourself a favour - forgive and let go!
Job had a tragic life full of hurts and wounds. His friends abandoned him in his time of need. They turned up one day when Job was in a real mess, Job prayed for these friends who had done him so much wrong and forgave them. As a result, Job's life was transformed. He came into great wealth, lived to be over 250 and experienced great joy. Job 42:10-16 This proves to us that there is life after hurt.
Joseph's brothers hated him. They disowned him and sold him into slavery as a young boy. There came a great famine in Egypt many years later. By this point Joseph was no longer a slave but was in fact in charge of food for the entire country. Joseph was totally forgiving, provided his brothers who had been so mean to him with all the food that they needed. Consequently Joseph lived to be at least 120, had wealth and a heart full of joy.
We need to follow these scriptural examples, forgive and love others as God would. Make the right decision to release our hurts to God and trust in Him to make it right. We can then go on and enjoy the life that we still have left. The life that Jesus died for us to have!
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