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Today I finish up discussing the unexpected Christmas gift I received. Before you start reading today, I recommend reading yesterday’s post to get caught up.
Did He need my gift of obedience? No. But I know that He was smiling because of it, and I knew it was the best gift I could give on Christmas.
The band was playing Christmas songs of course, and they began singing O Holy Night. I had never payed that much attention to the words, but that Christmas morning brought that song to life for me. As we got to the third verse, the words penetrated my heart and the tears came.

Truly He taught us to love one another, 
His law is love and His gospel is peace. 
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother. 
And in his name all oppression shall cease. 
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, 
With all our hearts we praise His holy name. 
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we, 
His power and glory ever more proclaim! 
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

He had broken my chains of abuse. He had broken my chain of bitterness toward the man whom had hurt me. Oppression was gone, replaced by the sweet hymn of joy. I was praising His name and so grateful that I had chosen the walk of obedience. I knew everything was going to be ok. I would make it through this church service, never having to see him, rejoicing in the fact that I had passed the test.

Then I looked out of the corner of my eye and there he was. He arrived late. My gut dropped, I could feel myself forgetting to breath, and I moved closer to my linebacker sized cousin. In a moment I had gone from praising God to looking for the nearest exit. In a flash my mind went back to the old brown shed where I had been forced to go as a little girl. But in that same moment, I saw Jesus putting 2×4’s over the doors and not allowing me in. The power of Jesus wasn’t letting my mind go there.
Then God nudged me with another whisper. “This is about me and you. Come back to me.” I closed my eyes, lifted my hands in the air, let the tears flow freely, and praised the God who is my protector, my refuge, my strength. The God who’s strength allows me to scale any wall. It was just me and God and in that moment no one else was present. I felt freedom. The freedom of strength. Courage. Love. Forgiveness. Obedience.
As the preacher closed his sermon, he asked us all to stand to do communion. I walked to the front of the sanctuary and grabbed the bread and wine, following the lead of others. He then asked us to stand in a circle together and we celebrated the birth of Christ together. I live in a small town, which means the church congregation is rather small. I was about to stand in a circle with a man I had once hated and take communion as his sister in Christ.
As I bowed my head to pray, I knew this would be a Christmas I would never forget. Sunday, December 25, 2011 I stood ten feet from a man I no longer saw as my enemy, but as a brother in Christ. A man who I will spend eternity in Heaven with, because just as God forgave my sins, He did just the same with him.
What an amazing God we serve!
Will we best friends? Probably not. Did I give him a hug and say “Merry Christmas,”? No. I doubt we’ll be having Sunday brunch anytime soon, but that’s ok. The freedom of forgiveness is incredible. The freedom of walking in obedience to a God who loves us unconditionally is amazing!
Thank you for allowing me to share this and I hope it will help someone on their journey to forgiveness. God parted the red sea. He can restore your heart.

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