This goes right along with Pastor Mick's sermon this past Sunday.
From Lysa TerKeurst's Instagram page:
I walked into my appointment with my counselor, Jim, wishing I’d canceled. I just didn’t feel up to tackling the topic of forgiveness that day.
As I sat in Jim’s office, I felt utterly unmotivated to talk and overly motivated to cry.
“Lysa, do you have the desire to heal from this?”
I nodded my head yes. I did want to heal. From the marital devastation. From the shock of all the unpredictable ways people had reacted to what happened.
But how could I possibly start healing when there was no resolution or restitution or reconciliation with Art or others who had hurt me?
As Jim kept talking, I started to realize I might never feel like things were fair. Even if the people who hurt me suddenly became repentant and owned all they’d done, that wouldn’t undo what happened. That wouldn’t instantly heal me or make any of this feel right.
I had to separate my healing from their choices. My ability to heal cannot depend on anyone’s choices but my own.
Oh, friend, what if we stopped waiting for things to feel right and fair and placed our healing in the hands of Jesus instead?
Our ability to heal cannot depend on others wanting our forgiveness, but only on our willingness to give it.
We can heal. We can forgive. We can trust God. And none of those beautiful realities can be held hostage by another person.
You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you, sweet friend. And today’s a good day to let that process start.
What healing do you need to place in the hands of Jesus today?
(From Lysa's new book: "Forgiving What You Can't Forget")