Friday, January 8, 2010

Chutes & Ladders: The Forgiveness Edition

"But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love." ~ Nehemiah 9:17

"Forgive, and you will be forgiven." ~ Luke 6:37


Never before have I been awakened in the midst of sleep with the idea for a blog... until the other night. Of course what I believe to be the reason for my awakening was a killer headache, but God used that time to speak to me in the midst of unbearable pain.

Have you ever noticed how a board game can become such a hit that it leads to spin off versions (i.e. Disney Trivial Pursuit, Friends Scene It, etc.). I don't know what made me think about this, but at 2am the other night I started to think of life as a real life version of "Chutes & Ladders." This game is a classic, I played it as a kid and I still play it with many of the kids I babysit... I love it, so unpredictable and nail biting. Anyway, isn't life so much like that. One day we hit the spot to skip ahead on a ladder, other days we fall short and find ourselves sliding back a bit. Oh and then there are those other days where we are holding our breath to skip over the spot which causes us to slide backwards.

As I've been working through some forgiveness issues I started to picture the act of forgiveness much like the game of "Chutes & Ladders." Somedays I step out and forward and able to move up the ladder of forgiveness... other days I fall short, unable to forgive (whether it be myself or another) and I'm sliding back a few steps. Could you imagine if God did that with our transgressions? Some days He choses to forgive us and places us up the ladder and then other days He doesn't feel like it so much and pushes us down the chute. I can't even fathom that knowing what I know about my loving Heavenly Father. So why in the world is it so stinkin' difficult for us to forgive, to take those steps that lead us up the ladder... closer to the one who loves us more than anything?

"So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we are all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart
turns violently inside of my chest

I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

He loves us..."**

**How He Loves (Jesus Culture)

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