Dear Elliott...a letter of FORGIVENESS.

Dear Elliott, 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

One time someone told me, "Forgiveness is key." Key to what? Well, quite frankly it's key to so many things. Forgiveness may be the key to happiness. Or the key to moving on from the past, a door to the future. Forgiveness is key in relationships. Key in communication. The key to living out faith. It is a concrete existence of mercy and of love. 

So why is it so hard to grasp this key? Why is it so hard to forgive? 

I woke up to a text from my friend. The link was to a video. "Did you see the news about this nightmare?", she asked! 

I had not even turned on the news or scrolled through my social media posts yet. I started watching and my stomach began to ache. With the heaviest of heart and the biggest feeling of saddness, I watched as a young man detailed a life of loneliness. Bitter, and almost unshaped by the value of human life, he told of a massacre of sorts he was planning against humanity. I watched too shocked and too captivated to push the pause. What in the world had happened? 

The actions I this man, that night, were evil. He shot and killed innocent people. Innocent people that had real lives. People who had real families, real goals, and real things left behind. I cannot even begin to imagine the phone call or the knock on the door that changes everything.

In a second, someone else's actions changed their world forever. 

The truth is, I have never been hurt that badly. I have never watched a love one destroyed at the hand of another. I have never had something so beautiful taken away! And I have never known such great hurt. 

As I thought about this key to life, forgiveness, I started to see the things I had to forgive were really not that big. But, regardless of how big or little they are, they are real and forgive I must. 

I pictured the mean things said by girls and the fights I had had with people I love. I pictured the failed plans or lies people told. I remembered nights of sadness and tears on my pillow. Yes, my heart has broke. Yes, I have felt like facing tomorrow might be impossible, but suddenly I realized in the bigger picture my hurt was just a tiny example of evil in the world. 

I started to picture life as the family who was burying their daughter. And imagined the parents whose son was so angry at the world he did his best to destroy it and himself in the process. I saw the news of the students gathered in candle light and tears. How do these people move on? How do they put one foot in front of another? How do the face a new day? 

They must make the steps towards forgiveness.

It is so obvious that the world is full of evil! It is so obvious that we as people hurt each other every day! But, when we live like hurt is the end, it is. We must believe we are the sons and daughters of a King. A King who loves us beyond on evil choices and who offers forgiveness daily. A King of mercy and love. A God who calls us to be mercy and love despite the hurt we feel. 

The actions of that man that night were evil. But, the man himself was not. His take on the world was so evidently shaped by hurt he never discovered how to forgive. The mistakes lived out in the lives of others left him feeling lonely, worthless, and isolated from the world. And I believe that that boy never got to discover the love God had created him with. I believe that he never knew his worth. I believe he never was able to experience God's healing mercy and as a result was never able to offer it to others. 

I'm not a part of the families that lost a loved one that day. I will never walk their journey. But, my prayer for them is that they discover forgiveness.   

All of us do the wrong thing from time to time. All of us make mistakes. But our power does not lie in those mistakes, our power lies in our ability to face those mistakes with love and with forgiveness. 

We all have a choice to make. We can let anger build up and fester in us. We can make rash decisions because we are mad and because some one else made the wrong choice. We can let our lives be a series of built up hurt after built up hurt. Or we can choose to recognize that we are all human.  And in our human nature rely on the power of God to lift us out of the evil and into His love and mercy. 

Forgiveness may impact the person you forgive, but ultimately I think it impacts you. When you break the chains of anger with the love of Christ, life becomes beautiful again. 

I do not know the biggest hurt you have had to face. But I can tell you this, God is bigger. Love is bigger. Mercy is bigger. Stop letting evil win. Forgive. As hard as it is, let God have the final say. Let Him help you forgive others. Let Him forgive you. 

Forgiveness is key...let it open the door to hope. 

Love and prayers, 

Danielle