Taking It Back...

Psalm 116 "1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, save me!" 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. 6 The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. 7 Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. 8 For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, 9 that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

10 I believed; therefore I said, "I am greatly afflicted." 11 And in my dismay I said, "All men are liars." 12 How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. 14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 16 O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. 17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. 18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord-- in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord."

This morning I woke up and I was thinking about a person who had really hurt me in the past. I realized that I hadn't thought about them in a while, and I was happy about that because I used to dwell on what happened and replay it in my head. I realized that in my heart I had truly come to a place of forgiveness and it was very liberating. The revelation of the power of forgiveness hit me, and I thought about things that I had recently been meditating on that I would like to be free from. I have had a lot of trouble sleeping at night (partially from thoughts of more recent people who have hurt me and the prednisone I've been taking), and it hit me this morning: I was over complicating these issues in my life! All I needed to do was forgive these people and move on! Verse six says that the Lord protects the simple-hearted and also relates it to rest for the soul. Isn't that powerful that when we keep things simple, they will be simple?!

I so often think about the right words I need to pray for that person, the correct scripture to speak over the situation or how I need to spend more time worshiping so that I will see results. All those things are great, but sometimes the answer is so simple! Forgive and let go! Move on for the sake of finding rest for your soul. Forgiving doesn't mean that you put the stamp of approval on what they did, it just means you refuse to let it have any further control over you and your life.