OVERCOMING OFFENSES

“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” Matthew 18:21-22. It is impossible to think myself out of offenses. Actually, the opposite is true. The more I mull them over and discuss them with others the more indignant I become. Our fuming deliberations only deepen the pain, entrenching us in sullen exasperation and excessive defensiveness. Forgiveness is the key to turning our sorrows into joy since it places the situation into God’s hands instead of our own; letting go of the wheel is the only sure path to the right destination. O Lord My Keeper, into Your hands I commit my heartbreaks and disappointments. Keep me out of the way of Your divine work so that Your Wisdom and Mercy may prevail, and my heart and hands may be clean.