issumagijoujungnainermik

Today i was reading about the story of David as i was making my way to giving tuition.

David. The bible talks so much about him.
So many lessons one can learn from the life of David.
I happened to be on this chapter - David and Saul - Both are God's children and things just turned bad between them. David was fleeing because the king Saul wanted to kill him. David went into deserts, caves, Saul just kept chasing after.
Saul was hunting David.


One day, Saul was being captured off guard by David's soldiers and they were overwhelmed with excitement because if Saul is dead, they can return to their homeland and live happily ever after, together with their leader, David.
But David let him go. He spares Saul's life, despite the many pain and sufferings Saul had imposed on him, and his people.
He knows that justice is in God's hands.
Simple story, yet it has so much to tell.

How do you normally treat people who gave you grief?
It's one thing to give grace to friends, but to give grace to those who give us grief?
Could you?

Perhaps you could. Some people seem graced with mercy glands. They secrete forgiveness, never harboring grudges or reciting their hurts.

Others, (most of us?) find it hard to forgive our Sauls.
We forgive the one-time offenders, mind you.
The parking-place takers, data breakers, purse snatches - it's okay.
But... the repeat offenders?
The Saul who take our youth, retirement, precious times, feelings, or health?
Could you forgive the one who hurt you?

It is just so hard, isn't it?
However .. score-settling freezes your stare at cruel events in your past.
And you question yourself - is it where you want to look?
Will rehearsing and reliving your hurts make you a better person?
By no means. It will destroy you.
An eye for an eye? Then when does it stop?

I think it stops when one person imitates David.
It stops when you're being reminded that the Lord must be the judge, He will decide.
No one has a clearer sense of right and wrong than Him.

Leave your enemies in God's hands.
You're not endorsing their misbehavior when you do.
You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you.
Forgiveness is not excusing.
Nor is forgiveness pretending.
It is, at its core, choosing to see your offender with different eyes.
To forgive is to move on, and not to think about the offense anymore.

We, like Saul, have been given grace.
We, like David, can freely give it.



'Guess what's the native language for forgiveness among the Eskimos?
It's a 24-word letter choice: issumagijoujungnainermik. "