Forgiving What You Can’t Forget: A 5-Day ChallengeSample

DAY FIVE

A New Way to Walk and a New Way to See

VERSES: John 5:1-15; John 9:1-11

I realize after the past few days you may be saying, “All of this sounds good, Lysa. But my heart is still hurting and the person who hurt me has never even said they’re sorry.” 

I get it. Healing can feel impossible when there has been no resolution with those who have hurt us. We want them to admit they were wrong. To make things right. To at least apologize.

But I’m learning that our ability to heal cannot depend on anyone’s choices but our own.

The first time I became aware of this truth was during a trip to the Holy Land when my guide taught about the only two healing miracles Jesus performed in Jerusalem mentioned in the book of John.

The first was a healing at the pools of Bethesda.

In John 5, we read about a lame man who thought he needed the cooperation of other people to help him get to the water when the angels stirred it, according to the superstition believed by many. So, when Jesus came and asked him if he wanted to be healed, the man’s response was surprising. He gave Jesus an excuse based on the fact that no one would help him into the water.

Isn’t it amazing that the man was so focused on what others needed to do that he almost missed what Jesus could do?

Without one word about the other people, Jesus instructed him to get up, pick up his mat and walk. The Bible then says, “At once the man was cured” (John 5:9). The healing didn’t involve anyone but the paralyzed man and Jesus.

The other healing miracle is found in John 9 with a blind man. In this story, we find the disciples wanting to know whose actions caused this man’s blindness. But Jesus blew their assumptions apart. He didn’t place blame or shame on anyone. He said this man’s blindness “happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). Jesus then spat onto the ground, mixed up some mud, rubbed it onto the blind man’s eyes, instructing him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Notice that Jesus didn’t make healing contingent on other people doing or owning anything.

Jesus gave the instruction. The blind man obeyed. Jesus healed. The blind man moved forward. My guide in Jerusalem that day said “one of these miracles showed us a new way to walk and the other showed us a new way to see.”

I couldn’t grab my journal to record this revelation fast enough. I wrote, “For me to move forward, for me to see beyond this current darkness, is between me and the Lord. I don’t need to wait on others to do anything. I must simply obey what God is asking of me right now. God has given me a new way to walk. And God has given me a new way to see. It’s forgiveness. And it is beautiful.”

Our ability to heal cannot depend on others wanting our forgiveness, but only on our willingness to give it.

Our ability to heal also cannot depend on them receiving adequate consequences for their disobedience, but only on our obedience to trust God’s justice whether we ever see it or not.

My healing is my choice. And your healing? It’s with the utmost compassion that I say your healing is your choice too.

We can heal. We can forgive. We can trust God. And none of those beautiful realities can be held hostage by another person.

RESPOND: Have you ever found yourself stuck in a place of believing that your ability to heal is dependent on other people and their choices? Spend some time in prayer today surrendering every hurt and even releasing those who have hurt you to Jesus. Ask Him to help you believe He truly is able to heal you… to make your soul well. 

You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you. Walk through a step-by-step process to free yourself from the hurt of your past and feel less offended today with the help of Lysa TerKeurst’s newest book, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget. Find out more at ForgivingWhatYouCantForget.com .