THE GIFT

I am so excited to share with all of you my latest encounter with God. It has been building for several weeks, but today was the day it was played out.

Some friends of mine have a teenage daughter who has made a lot of seriously dangerous decisions recently that has altered the course of her education, walk with God and her relationship with her parents. She and her family are dealing with the ripples caused by the "rock" she threw in the pool of her life and have started the healing process. About 3 weeks ago, during my quiet time, God gave me a message to give this young lady but said to wait until the time was right. My instructions from God were to wash her feet and tell her that God accepts her apology and that he forgives her for the choices she made. God still wanted to use her in his kingdom, but first she needed to come to him spiritually naked and confess all her sins to Him. Then he can begin to heal her heart and body and relationships. God wanted her to know that He still thinks she is beautiful and loves her dearly.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't see this type of service done in public places. I agreed to wait on God and be obedient. The next day, I saw this young lady for just a brief moment. I asked her if I could give her a hug and she said yes. As I was giving her that hug, this overwhelming power of love and compassion came over me. I took her face in my hands and looked deep into her eyes and told her to stop screwing up because there were lots of people who love her and want her to be safe. It was as if I was talking to my own daughter. I realize now that it was really the Holy Spirit loving her through my words and embrace. Tears were rolling down my face and I told her that I had a gift for her when the time was right.

Since that day, I've been listening to God and wondering when to deliver the gift. I envisioned visiting her home and doing it in the privacy of her home. NOT what God had in mind. Today, during our church service, when God's Spirit was moving, this young lady came to the pastor during the prayer time and asked for prayer. Before she even got the the front, another woman in our church was talking with her and praying for her and as soon as I saw that, God said, now is the time. I said, now God? Here in front of everyone? Won't she be embarrassed? God said do it. So I left my place on the platform with the music team, grabbed my notes from my Bible about what to tell her, went to the kitchen in the back of the church and got a bowl of water and a wash cloth. As I was returning to the sanctuary, this teenage girl was receiving prayer from our pastor and other leaders in our church. I placed the bowl on the floor in front of a chair and waited for her to finish.

As she turned to go back to her seat, I was there with my arms open wide and the look on her face was relief and repentance. I gave her a hug and told her that I loved her. I reminded her that I had a gift to give her and that now was the time to give it to her. I sat her down in the chair and knelt in front of her. As I began giving her the message of forgiveness that God had given me, I removed her shoes an socks and washed her feet. This was just the picture she needed to accept God's forgiveness and move on. As I finished lavishing God's love on her, I reminded her not to look back on the mistakes she had made, but to look forward to the new things God wants to do in her life.

To me the most amazing thing about this whole scene is the immensity of God's love flowing through me. I felt an inner calm. There was no embarrassment or awkwardness at all. I was honored to be allowed to serve another one of God children. As a child of the King who has also made many mistakes in my life, I am not worthy to be the barer of such love, but because the King's son, Jesus Christ, brought that message of love to me and cleaned out the shame and sin from my heart and life, how can I not share that forgiveness with everyone I meet.

If you are hurting and need forgiveness, God is just waiting for you to crawl up into His lap and tell Him all about your sorrow and shame. He is hurting for you because God doesn't like seeing us make mistakes and suffer from it. The good news is that you don't have to stay in that pit of shame and sorrow. There is a way out. Jesus Christ has already been in that same pit and has lived the consequences of our sin.

God has a gift for you my friend, it's called forgiveness. Won't you open the gift and accept God's love and offer? If you need more help with your gift, leave a comment or send me an email. I am happy to help you.