Dec 21, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Being Wronged

(I love God but…Part three)

Everyone has been wronged in their lifetime one way or another. I am sure you have been injured emotionally, physically, socially, or mentally as a child, teenager, young adult, middle-aged, or even as a senior citizen. There is no escaping someone’s sin and the damage their sin can do to your life can be unrepairable without Jesus. Sin hurts! In fact, it is devastating in so many ways.

In the last article, I wrote about finding forgiveness from all effects and aspects of your sin. The harm sin makes must take the grace of God to a new level in all our lives. We must discover the forgiveness of God when it comes to finding redemption from the consequences of not only the sin we do but the sin of others and the effect of their sin on our lives.

God wants to bring all of us to forgive others for their sin, but He also wants their sin to no longer having a hold or hindering us in serving Jesus Christ. We must have this kind of forgiveness—to forgive others and to receive forgiveness that washes away the harm of their sin in our lives. All of us have been wronged, all of us have forgiven others, and now we must seek Jesus to take away the consequences of their sin in our lives. We must be whole and full of righteousness; it only comes through forgiveness and the grace of God. This is the healing aspect of forgiveness. This is what Jesus ultimately wanted from His forgiveness being activated in our lives—to have forgiveness that brings healing and wholeness; never allowing the curse of sin (ours or others) to bind our lives.

However, there is ‘another wrong’ that comes from God and many of us have discovered how God ‘wrongs us’ in order for us to find forgiveness, righteousness, freedom, and His perfect will in our lives. Here are some biblical examples of God doing the impossible through creating harm/wrongness on whom He loves. (God’s wisdom is above our wisdom and His ways are unable to be discovered/understood.)

Jesus: The Bible says that it ‘pleased God to bruise (wrong) His Son.” God not only laid on Christ the sin of the whole world, but God turned away from His Son during His crucifixion on the cross. God also left His Son in hell for three days. All of this had purpose and the purpose was for our salvation, but it came with a cost, and part of the cost was for God to wrong His Son. Oh, the wisdom of God, wisdom we can hardly understand. Jesus understood the cost to die on a cross, but he prayed, “Not my will but your will (the Father’s will) be done.”

Paul: God met Paul on the Damascus Road. God spoke to him and blinded Paul. God left Paul in a state of blindness for a few days. Why you ask? Paul had to realize/learn he was wronged by God because he was blind spiritually not only physically. God wronged Paul so he might humble himself, pray, fear the Lord, and repent of his spiritual blindness. (Note: The Bible says Jesus humbled Himself before the crucifixion experience and because Jesus did this, God, therefore, heard His prayers so that God’s will could be done—the fear of God in action).

Job: Job was a perfect man in keeping the laws of God, but there was a lesson that Job had to learn. A lesson none of us would like to learn. God wronged Job and the Bible says, “God repented of the evil that He allowed to come upon Job.” What was the wrong? God took everything Job held dear to himself. God allowed Satan tempt Job by having people steal all Job’s processions, kill Job’s sons and daughters, cause Job to become very sick so he wanted to die, and even allowed Job’s friends to reject him, offer him bad advice, and to curse Job by those who once loved him. (Sound familiar, this is what also happened to Jesus except Jesus did not have a family & wanting to die.)

As is prophesied by Joel 3:14, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” God is calling all of His people as well as the whole world to be in the valley of decision. The Book of Revelation clearly states the harm the angels of God are to do to all mankind—we are being called to decide.

We can either humble ourselves as Jesus, Paul, and Job or suffer the consequences of the sin we have in our lives. Jesus overcame all the sin of mankind and offer forgiveness to all of us because humbled Himself, chose God’s will for His life, and feared God above anything He wanted. Will you be like Jesus? Will you accept God’s will for your life no matter how difficult? God will not leave you nor me where He finds us! God will redeem us and take us out of the valley of death, Psalm 23:4.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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