This world is a crazy, messy, painful place, and sometimes life is just hard. When things don’t go our way and people wrong us, the world seems to scream to us, “Revenge is sweet!” and “Let them get what they deserve!” She urges us, “Fight back, or you’ll be seen as weak.”

But if we are still and listen, in the midst of our heaviest, most painful moments our Jesus is whispering to us, “Forgive them, choose hope, choose love.”

In our reading today, the psalmist goes before the Lord each morning, daily seeking deliverance and refuge in God. When it comes to our enemies, revenge is our natural instinct, but God asks that we forgive, even when we don’t think we have the strength within us. May we, like the psalmist, daily come before the Lord, acknowledging and giving thanks for the forgiveness freely given to us, and seeking strength to extend that forgiveness to others.

by: Sara Hunt from:d365.org