Psalm 30:11 – 12 (NCV) “You changed my sorrow into dancing. You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness. I will sing to you and not be silent. Lord, my God, I will praise you forever.”
Not too long ago, I had allowed unforgiveness to consume every fiber of my being. I was very angry over a situation in my life and as I allowed anger to fester. Of course, this produced absolutely nothing in me – nor did it solve the problem. The only thing “festering” over the situation did was gave Satan the opportunity to construct an intricately woven chain around my neck in the form of bitterness, anger, resentment, and jealousy.
I didn’t even realize it was happening until one Sunday my pastor pointed out the symptom…unforgiveness. Funny, I thought I had the forgiveness issue “under control” until I heard:
“Someone does something to hurt you and you forgive them. But what happens at the very thought of the issue? Can you see them the way God sees them or are you still offended by what they have done to you?”
“Whoa, what’s that? ”I suddenly felt the tiring weight of a chain around my neck” pulling me down as someone’s face came rushing to the front of my mind. With each thought, I saw clearly another link in the long chain holding me captive. Why hadn’t I seen the chain earlier?
It was hard for me to admit that I had allowed the construction of this “unforgiveness chain.” I added bitterness link after anger link at the mere thought of this person. On this particular Sunday, warmth washed over me and I heard the words deep in my spirit… “give the chain to me… you’ve carried it for too long.”
I saw clearly Satan’s weapon of choice that morning… Unforgiveness.
I had held onto to every offense – which allowed anger, bitterness, and resentment to fester. Hadn’t I forgiven each offense? Not really…When it came right down to it… I had forgiven in my own strength… that means I was fighting the way the world fights. If I was going to fight unforgiveness and break its stronghold, Jesus had to lead the charge.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says:
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
There is nothing I can do in my own strength but, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bible promises me that I can demolish the stronghold of unforgiveness. Before I left the church that morning I chose to forgive; shattering the unforgiveness chain once and for all.
That morning, God turned my sorrow into dancing. The God of the universe delivered me from the weight of my unforgiveness chain and I will forever praise Him for His mercy and kindness.
As I continued to listen to the pastor, I was reminded that if I was going to win a fight against Satan, I had to use God’s weapons. I can’t do anything on my own, but by the power of the Holy Spirit I can forgive. I can conquer unforgiveness by choosing to forgive. Before I left the church that morning I chose to forgive. I had allowed the chains of unforgiveness to weigh me down for far too long. Now as I move forward, I will keep my eyes focused clearly on Christ and pray – not just for me but for the other person too.