The Art of Forgiving

Life Lessons from the Book of Jonah

How many times has the Lord called us to do something, but we allowed our will to get in the way? For me, too many times to count.

There have been times that the Lord has called to me to speak to someone, pray for someone, or do something selfless for someone else. However, there were times when I allowed my pride to get in the way.

When the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the good news, Jonah felt the Ninevites were undeserving of God’s love and only deserved God’s wrath. It is so easy for us to unintentionally take God’s role by deciding who deserves grace or rage, peace or chaos, love or war, life or death.

It is not our place to decide someone’s fate or who deserves to have peace in Christ. It is our job to preach the good news wherever we are called.

Is that easy? No.

It is not easy to be forgiving, selfless, or kind to the people who hurt us. The Ninevites were enemies to Jonah. Naturally, Jonah’s first instinct was to run when he heard he needed to be compassionate towards his enemies. But that heart posture was conflicting with the Lord’s will because it prioritized the desires of the flesh over the will of God.

As harsh it sounds to classify a human as an enemy, that is how I saw this man. There was someone who took advantage of my innocence, robbed me of my purity, and stained me with his filth as a child. It became hard for me to even be in the presence of men without being fearful.

But yet, the Lord called, as clear as day, to pray for this man after I found out he had cancer. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to pray for his healing. But after years of wrestling with God about it, I prayed for him with sincerity. I prayed for him with grace and compassion. I cried and cried as I forgave him in my prayer and began healing from years of pain.

So, what life lesson did I learn?

— I learned what Jonah did not.

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