Ever had someone in your life who was totally irritating, or even
worse, actually hated you? How did you
handle that person? I want to share a
beautiful letter I received last week from India that describes how one of our
HIM pastors dealt with just this type of difficult situation.
“Mr. A., a devout Hindu, hated his neighbor, Pastor D, with a passion,
and looked for ways to destroy his life. He vowed to ruin Pastor D’s name and
discredit his ministry. Mr A was constantly hurling insults at Pastor D and
trying to stir up trouble in the neighborhood.
He made life very unpleasant for Pastor D, but even though it was
difficult, Pastor D was friendly to Mr. A. The Pastor and his church chose to
pray for Mr.A regularly.
A year later Pastor D was surprised to get a phone call from the wife
of Mr. A. She was crying and frantically begging Pastor D to come quickly to
the hospital. Pastor D initially was hesitant to open himself to further abuse
by Mr.A, but he agreed to go and took some of his church elders with him.
Mr. A had kidney failure and had been receiving weekly dialysis
treatments at the hospital for months. But this particular day, the doctor
informed his wife that Mr. A’s kidney was not able to handle dialysis anymore
and all his organs were beginning to shut down. He gave Mr A only a few hours
to live.
Entering the hospital room, Pastor D encountered a very different Mr.
A. There were tears streaming down his face as looked up at Pastor D, begged
for forgiveness and asked for a blessing.
Pastor D prayed, "Lord Jesus Christ, just as You have forgiven us
our sins, we are called to forgive others...so I along with my church forgive
Mr. A. In your name Christ, we release healing along with forgiveness and
freedom to Mr.A.”
The next morning was Sunday, and the doctor visited Mr. A. expecting to
see a dead body. Instead, Mr. A. was dangling his legs from the side of the bed
and smiling at the shocked doctor. After running a series of tests, the doctor
found no sign of any kidney failure.
Mr. A and his family went straight to Pastor D’s church where Mr. A
faced the cross and begged loudly for God to forgive him. He and his whole family embraced Christ.”
The Pastor concluded his letter: “What did we learn from this ?!!
That as disciples of Christ, we have the authority not only to release
Forgiveness, but to release healing and freedom as well. So lets use
our tongue to release His goodness on earth and bless people wherever we are!!”
Think how differently this story would have ended if Pastor D had
responded to Mr. A with hatred. As children of God, we have something far more
powerful than hatred and revenge. We
have the power to transform others by releasing love and blessing into their
lives.
“Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all
goodness, righteousness and truth.” (Ephesians 5:8) “Let your light so shine
before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in
heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
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