Well this hits close to home. About that same time frame, there was a premeditated attempted kidnapping on my own boys, middle of the day, in our front yard. While we praise God the men were unsuccessful, the RAGE. I cannot explain the rage, and I have a feeling many reading this have felt it before. Through it, the huge question of "what does forgiveness look like/what is it?" rang strong throughout my mind. A mentor of mine affirmed that forgiveness is NOT excusing evil; in fact, I meshed together a prayer from the Psalms: "Break the arms of evil men; shove them in the dust like dung, and cover their faces with shame until they repent." Whoa, right? But the idea of forgiving those evil men who plotted and planned to bring harm (death??) to my children seemed sick at first. The rage is gone, the tears are done, and I can start to think about forgiveness. I'm not there yet, full honesty. How do you know when you've forgiven? How do you even get to that point? How do I live out this crucial tenet of our faith when it seriously feels impossible?
Well this hits close to home. About that same time frame, there was a premeditated attempted kidnapping on my own boys, middle of the day, in our front yard. While we praise God the men were unsuccessful, the RAGE. I cannot explain the rage, and I have a feeling many reading this have felt it before. Through it, the huge question of "what does forgiveness look like/what is it?" rang strong throughout my mind. A mentor of mine affirmed that forgiveness is NOT excusing evil; in fact, I meshed together a prayer from the Psalms: "Break the arms of evil men; shove them in the dust like dung, and cover their faces with shame until they repent." Whoa, right? But the idea of forgiving those evil men who plotted and planned to bring harm (death??) to my children seemed sick at first. The rage is gone, the tears are done, and I can start to think about forgiveness. I'm not there yet, full honesty. How do you know when you've forgiven? How do you even get to that point? How do I live out this crucial tenet of our faith when it seriously feels impossible?
No advice here. Just more struggle.