What Makes God Great…

After church last Sunday a person was telling me how they had
been out working in their yard, not really thinking about a whole lot, when
something reminded them of a person they knew back in the day. They laughed as
they thought about some of stupid things they had done with this person. But
then their thoughts starting wandering back to things that weren’t so laughable.
The person looked at me and said,

“Most of the people I have had as friends are no longer in my life. I
feel like almost every relationship I’ve had has fallen apart. The truth is, I have made a lot of mistakes. I
know I’ve hurt people. But I’ve been
hurt too. Many of those people have done things to me that were wrong!”

I could see the hurt and brokenness in their face, and at
the same time sense anger and bitterness in their words. I paused for a minute, and then asked if they
had asked God to forgive them for things they had done wrong in those
relationships. They said they had. I asked if they had forgiven those who had
hurt them. Again, they said they
had. But something was missing.

This person, like so many of us, was not living with the
freedom of knowing that their sins were truly forgiven. The various mistakes and sins in the past, or
maybe something recently said or done, or a behavior indulged in repeatedly, makes
it difficult to believe that we can be truly forgiven. Paul evidently felt the same way,

“For the good that I will to
do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do
what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:19–24)

When theologians describe God’s greatness they use words
like omniscient or omnipotent. Those are
true descriptions, but Psalms describes God this way,

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and
abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” (Ps 86:5)

“As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.”

(Ps 130:4, The Message)

In other words, what makes God great to us who follow Him is
his willingness and power to forgive, no matter what we’ve done or how often
we’ve done it. When the memories come—of
past failures, of past sins, of the fractures we’ve caused, of things that have
been done to us, or even of where we are currently falling short—we can rest
fully in the greatness of our God, who is rich in mercy and always ready to forgive!

Remember this the next time you’re out doing yard work, and
you start reminiscing.