No One Can Keep You From Your Purpose
We may struggle to forgive our offenders at times because even if we forgive them, the damage remains. They may have caused real damage to our lives that seems irreparable. They may have caused such destruction that it altered the course of our lives. We may wonder if we will ever recover and get our lives back on track after the destruction that we experienced because of them.
But we must realize that no one and nothing can prevent us from reaching the destiny that God has for us as long as we follow Him in obedience. No one can keep us from God’s best for us. We can fully forgive our offenders as we rest in the assurance that no matter what they have done to us, God’s purposes for our lives cannot be stopped. In fact, as long as we respond appropriately to God’s signals, He can use offenses that others meant to hurt us, and God can turn those offenses to our benefit.
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”—Romans 8:28 (AMP)
Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit, and then sold him into slavery. Later, he was thrown into prison after being unjustly accused.
After all of this, Joseph was able to completely forgive his brothers. One realization helped him to do this. He saw that nothing his brothers could do could prevent him from reaching his destiny in life. In fact, he realized that the things that he suffered at their hands actually *propelled *him toward his purpose.
“But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? [Vengeance is His, not mine.] As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day]. So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and support you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them [giving them encouragement and hope] and spoke [with kindness] to their hearts.”—Genesis 50:19-21 (AMP)
Joseph was not only able to fully forgive his brothers from his heart, but he went beyond that to demonstrate genuine love to them by showing kindness and providing support for them and their families. When they experienced problems, he reached out to them to help meet their needs and provide comfort and encouragement.
**“But I lost so much!” **
Even if your offenders hurt you in ways that cost you dearly, you can fully forgive them from your heart, knowing that God is able to restore to you much more than you lost, even if you have suffered the loss of children.
“Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what about the money I already paid to the Israelite army?’ The man of God answered, ‘The Lord has plenty. He can give you much more than that.’”—2 Chronicles 25:9 (ERV)
Look at the example of Job.
Job had suffered the losses of his livestock, his employees, his children, his health, his reputation, his social standing in the community. The losses that he suffered were absolutely devastating.
But the Lord restored everything that Job had lost … and doubled it!
“the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
**“**Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.
**“**And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first [daughter] Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were found no women so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. So Job died, an old man and full of days.”—Job 42:10-17 (AMP)
But Job’s fortunes were not restored to him automatically, just because he was a believer in God.
God waited to turn Job’s situation around and to restore his fortunes until Job rose above any resentment or anger that he had held onto, and prayed blessings for the “friends” who had offended him and treated him with such insensitivity during his suffering.
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, **when he prayed for his friends”—**Job 42:10 (AMPC)
God stands ready, as the righteous judge, to restore everything that was lost, stolen, or destroyed in your life unjustly, but He is waiting on you. Will you forgive your offenders fully from your heart? Will you rise above those offenses to forgive your enemies, bless them, and do good to them?
In 2016, I went with a group of ministers to the country of Burundi to speak in a pastors/leaders conference.
The focus and the goal of the conference was to bring healing and recovery after ethnic genocide had caused devastating destruction, losses, and deaths. Burundi is located just south of Rwanda, and the people of Burundi had suffered in much the same ways that the people of Rwanda had suffered during the genocide there.
As I acknowledged the terrible losses and deep hurts that these precious Burundians had suffered, I could see how God was using my own sufferings to help me guide these believers to forgiveness, healing, and restoration.
Have you ever considered that your sufferings may be the means that God uses to bring others to Christ? That is the nature of suffering, especially when we are not at fault. God uses our sufferings to draw others to Himself, if we will respond to our sufferings in the right ways. We must learn to be alert to see our sufferings as signals from God that He is allowing these things to enlarge our capacity to bring healing and restoration to others. In this way, we are completing the ministry of Jesus Himself.
“I am happy in my sufferings for you. There is much that Christ must still suffer. And I gladly accept my part of those sufferings in my body for the good of his body, the church.”—Colossians 1:24 (ERV)
“God may want you to suffer for doing good. That’s better than suffering for doing evil. Christ also suffered once for sins. The one who did what is right suffered for those who don’t do right. **He suffered to bring you to God.”—**1 Peter 3:17-18 (NIRV)
Steps that I shared with the Burundians to help guide their journeys to forgiveness, healing, and restoration are detailed in my book, Hopelessness, Suffering, and Unjust Loss.
1. Come before God with a clear conscience. Before you come before the Righteous Judge to demand justice, you should make sure that your conscience is clear of any wrong-doing. Ask forgiveness of those whom you have offended. Forgive those who might have offended you.
2. State your case. Just as you would in a court of law, state your case to God. Clearly describe the details of the injustice that you have suffered.
3. Cry out to God for justice and repayment for your losses. Tell God that you want justice for your sufferings and losses. Ask for repayment. It is not up to us to decide what form that repayment will take, but the Righteous Judge will determine what is the best form of repayment for our individual situations.
It’s just that simple. God has been waiting for you to cry out to Him for justice! Jesus confirmed this in Luke 18:1-8 (NLT):
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, “Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.” The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, “I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!”
“Then the Lord said, ‘Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?’”
Jesus assured us in this passage that full and complete justice will be granted by God as we cry out to Him in faith. His only question was, will we have the faith to believe it? The reason faith is important is because many people have missed out on the promises of God simply because they did not believe them, as we are told in Hebrews 4:1-3 (CEV):
“The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out. We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good. Only people who have faith will enter the place of rest.”
God’s justice and compensation for all of your unjust losses is waiting for you! Believe it! Believe His promises! Cry out to Him for justice, and you will receive all that God has for you as repayment for your unjust losses!
“We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.”—Hebrews 11:6 (CEV)
Forgiveness is an Act of Overcoming
Forgiveness is an act of overcoming. In order to fully forgive, we usually have to overcome barriers in our thinking that give us many reasons to hold onto offenses and to resist forgiving our offenders.
Total forgiveness is a beautiful thing. We experience total forgiveness when we can think back on previous offenses and not feel any twinges of pain or hurt at all. When we reach this level of forgiveness from our hearts, we wish only the best for our offenders. We are happy then to bless our enemies and demonstrate genuine love to them wholeheartedly.
When we can love and bless our offenders without any twinges of anger, pain, or resentment, then we are free.
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus gave us keys to conquering bitterness that seem to our natural minds like the most ridiculous foolishness … but they work! In fact, if we do not follow these commands that Jesus gave to us, we may never be able to conquer the bitterness in our hearts.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, don’t fight back against someone who wants to do harm to you. If they hit you on the right cheek, let them hit the other cheek too. If anyone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let them have your coat too. If a soldier forces you to walk with him one mile, go with him two.”—Matthew 5:38-41 (ERV)
When we are hurt, our natural inclination may be to fight back and to hurt the other person, but Jesus knows that response will only deepen the hurts and bitterness on both sides of the conflict.
Instead, Jesus teaches us to use unjust acts against us as signals to reach out in love to seek out and help meet the needs of our offenders.
When offenders strike out against us unjustly, those unjust attacks are signals to us that God is bringing these people into our lives because they have needs in their lives that we can help to meet.
An offense against us is a signal from God that He is assigning us to that offender at a critical time in his life in order to help meet his needs and provide God’s solutions for his problems in life.
When we actually invest in the lives of our offenders and return love in the face of their offenses, our heart is turned toward our offenders, as Jesus taught us when he said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). In this way, bitterness is conquered, and forgiveness is fully achieved.
Jesus went on to say,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”—Matthew 5:43-48 (NKJV)
If you are struggling with bitterness and anger against your offenders, if you will begin to invest in their lives in meaningful ways, seeking God’s best for them, even in the midst of their remorseless offenses, God will begin to change your heart to be like His. Your heart of bitterness can be turned into a heart of genuine love.
Look at the example of David, who ran for his life from Saul, who fully intended to kill David.
After Saul died, David eventually became king over Israel, sitting in the throne that had previously been occupied by Saul. Instead of lashing out in bitter vengeance at his enemies, he mourned at the passing of Saul and Jonathan, his son. Then he sought out the only living grandchild of Saul, and showed kindness to him, giving him a home in the royal palace, and providing for his needs.
“David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father [grandfather], and you shall eat at my table always… . So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table as one of the king’s sons.”—2 Samuel 9:7-11 (AMPC)
In his Basic Seminar, Bill Gothard shares several testimonies of people who were able to finally overcome bitterness by moving beyond minimum forgiveness and “going the extra mile” to demonstrate genuine love and kindness to their offenders, as Jesus commanded us:
“Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people.”—Luke 6:35 (ISV)
The Apostle Paul also reminded us of this in Romans 12:
**“14 **Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.
**15 **Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].
**16 **Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.
**17 **Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.
**18 **If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
**19 **Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.
**20 **But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.
**21 **Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.” (AMPC)
**Reference: **
Gothard, B. Basic Seminar Session 07: Dealing with Hurts / Keys to Forgiveness. Basic Seminar. https://basicseminar.com/session/basic-seminar-session-07-dealing-with-hurts-keys-to-forgiveness/
