Forgiveness
by Barbara Chadwick



"I have done so many wrong things. I have hurt so many people, God will never forgive me."

I put my arm around his frail, bony, 96 year old shoulders and said, "God is a God of grace and love." He began to cry, shoulders heaving. I continued, "God invites us to bring our sins and our regrets to Him and lay them at the foot of the cross."

We were sitting on the side of the bed where his 93 year old wife lay terminally ill. I said, "Let's pray." He nodded his head and put his hand on my knee.

I began, "Heavenly Father, You are a God of love and compassion. You have loved us with an everlasting love. You have invited us to come before your throne and lay our burdens at Your feet. I lift up John* to You. His heart is heavy. Even though he put his faith and trust in You at an early age, he has done things that make his heart heavy. Things he knows You would not be pleased with. He is bringing these things to You. Your Word tells us in I John 1:9, If we confess our sins that You are faithful and just and will forgive is our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I ask You, Heavenly Father, to reach down and take him in your loving arms. He needs You. Administer Your grace in this moment and fill his heart with the peace that only You can give. Thank You, Lord, for this love and this grace. I pray in Jesus Name. "

He sighed, squeezed my knee, wiped his eyes and said, "thank you." I asked him if he could sit in the recliner now and take a little nap. He said, "I think so." and moved to the chair at that pace that marks 96 years.

As he nodded off to sleep with the weight lifted from his shoulders, I got to thinking.

Basically he knew all the things I said. He's been a deacon for over 50 years. (How many sermons would he have heard in that time? Just one each week would be 2,600.) He reads the Bible and a devotional every day. So it's not that he didn't know about God's grace and forgiveness.

But sometimes we need for our friends and family to come alongside us to remind us of God's Word; to encourage us to walk in the light of Christ and not, cover up our iniquity but to confess it to the Lord and He will forgive the guilt of our sin. Psalms 32:5

*Not his real name.