The issue of forgiveness is a painful one. Sometimes the wrong is so big, so deep and so wide that it almost seems petty and cruel, even to mention the word forgiveness. And yet, there is a large doorway of hope that God has placed in the very center of forgiveness that we often overlook. It is an entry way to freedom. The freedom to enjoy all that God has given us and allow Him to start something new in our lives. But it all begins with a heart that is ready to surrender. An unforgiving heart, at least in my own life, is an “arched back” type of heart. Like a rigid  toddler who refuses to get into his car seat, when my heart is unforgiving, it is not surrendered to God. Over and over I play in my mind how I will bring this person to a realization of their sin against me. Open their eyes to the depth of the wrong that they have inflicted on me. I picture myself winning and my adversary coming to a point of humiliation and regret. However, this is my flesh and not the desire of the Spirit within me. In contrast, the Spirit calls me to surrender. To give up the fight. To stop arching my back and instead crawl into the lap of my loving Father. Perhaps with tears from all the old scars and fresh wounds. He beckons for me to lay down my sword, and allow Him to pick up my case.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:19-21

I must surrender. It is not my job to avenge or repay. But it is God’s job to make things right in His time and through His ways. He sees our pain and our deepest wounds. He does not look away and forget the injustice that is done against us. He is the God who sees. The weeping of our hearts is not disregarded by him. Like the slave woman Hagar, who fled from her mistress Sarai, we must set our eyes on the God who sees our own sorrows.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Genesis 16:13

Hagar knew that God had heard and seen her suffering. For He had met her there in that wilderness. Pregnant and desperate, He had spoken to her:

And the angel of the LORD said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.” Genesis 16:11

And what does the name Ishmael mean? It means “God hears”. She had, in the name of her son, a constant reminder that God hears her. It is because we know that God sees, hears and cares for our pain that we can finally lay down these burdens at His feet, knowing that He never has and never will neglect the mistreatment of His precious children. He has not disregarded your case and He will make all things beautiful in His time.

Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:27-28