Payback Time
Theme of the Week: Forgive That Jerk?
Mark Ward
Tuesday, October 4, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it ( 1 Peter 3:9). Bonus Reading: Romans 12:17-21
I rode a cold bus to the Yukon to retrieve my pickup. Our "friend," charged with theft, failed to show for the court case. My resentment over his betrayal had festered. Now, he'd reappeared. "Lord," I prayed, "What should I do?"
I went to the hospital. The nurse said he'd been arrested, then transferred from jail to the nearest hospital when his condition worsened. It was him, all right, but now skin and bones. His eyes said he recognized me—and had planned to never see me again!
"I forgive you for taking my truck," I managed. "Because God forgave me, I forgive you. I'm not angry. I've been praying for you." He couldn't move or speak, but his eyes teared up.
I returned daily, reading from my Bible, and telling him that God loved him and that the native people were praying. Unexpectedly, his condition stabilized. Then he was taken off life support. After five weeks he could talk well enough to tell me he wanted to receive Christ as his Savior!
One Sunday as our church service was beginning, a taxi stopped outside. The driver helped someone into a wheelchair. Weak and pale, he wheeled himself to the front of the church and sobbed, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
—Mark Ward in The Conquering Indian
My Response: Have I ever asked God how I should deal with a betrayal?
Thought to Apply: If you forgive people enough, they belong to you whether they like it or not … the squatter's rights of the heart. —JAMES HILTON (English novelist)
Adapted from The Conquering Indian (Indian Life, 1994) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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When I've been wronged, Lord, I'm naturally bent on retaliation. But You've said to leave that to You. Help me to submit my case to You.
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