especially those who most need your mercy

“Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

“I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”

Only reckless confidence in a Source greater than ourselves can empower us to forgive the wounds inflicted by others. In boundary moments such as these there is only one place to go — Calvary. Stay there for a long time and watch as Abba’s Only Begotten dies utterly alone in bloody disgrace. Watch as He breathes forgiveness on His torturers at the moment of their greatest cruelty and mercilessness. On that lonely hill outside the city wall of old Jerusalem, you will experience the healing power of the dying Lord. Experientally, the inner healing of the heart is seldom a sudden catharsis or an instant liberation from bitterness, anger, resenment, and hatred. More often it is a gentle growing into oneness with the Cricified who has achieved our peace through His blood on the cross. This may take considerable time because the memories are still so vivid and the hurt is still so deep. But it will happen.

Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.