My Story—God Teaches Me About Forgiveness…

God sure has patience when it comes to teaching us lessons that we must obey—He waited on me for nearly a decade while I went around and around the mountain with forgiveness…but I finally got it; He taught me a lesson on forgiveness to last for eternity!

My biggest act of forgiveness was with the parents of my son’s friend where he stayed at the young age of 17 against my blessings.

Although God fulfilled His promise to me that my son would graduate high school it still did not sit well with me that the parents of Chris’ friend invited him to live with them  his last year of high school and they allowed him to make poor choices like skipping school, smoking, doing drugs or other inappropriate behavior while living with them.

I had such resentment and bitterness toward those parents for years. I felt like they stole my son from me and poisoned him with their corruptible lifestyle.

I had so much unforgiveness in my heart for them.  After all, …

His friend’s parents sabotaged my parental rights…

They were the definition of enablers. 

I went to their home with my brother in law to try and reason with them about this unwanted, unhealthy arrangement.

We weren’t received well at all.

They told me this was none of my business and there was nothing I could do because he was 17.

Let me tell you, this momma bear bristled back at the parents, said some choice words (I’m not proud of) about how wrong it was sabotaging my parental rights and allowing my son to screw up his life. 

My son backed them.  He acted like he was brainwashed and even asked me to leave. Talk about painful. Can you imagine how much that would hurt having your child say that to you?

So, the visit was unsuccessful to get my son back but at least they all knew where I stood as a parent.

It was clear after that visit—my son was getting deeper in with Satan’s ways.

And, unfortunately, those parents were right…

I had NO legal grounds to go after them since he was 17 at the time.

 Not only did I not have any legal right to go after those parents, but I also could not force my son out of that enabling environment and back home.

I was frustrated, angry, and sick with worry.

I had much unforgiveness in my heart for those parents for years…

But I had to let go as best I could.  I prayed my son would outgrow this living arrangement, come to his senses, learn from his mistakes, and come home.

This early battle for me was attempts to turn this rebellious teen situation around and spare my son a lifetime of turmoil. 

I was eaten up with all kinds of resentment towards those parents and couldn’t let go of the anger from it all.

Until God spoke to my heart…

I had no choice but to let go of what I couldn’t control and learn to forgive …

God eventually helped me to realize I had to forgive those parents for me to be set free of the sin of unforgiveness and so I could be forgiven for my sins.

Matthew 6:14— For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

I began to fully trust God even though I was heartbroken, and I didn’t understand.  

Proverbs 3:5-6—Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

All praise to God—My son at least graduated high school as God promised me, he would.

I grew closer to God with His lesson on forgiveness and learned to trust Him.

Mark 9:23—Everything is possible for the one who believes.

It took me years to forgive those parents, but I knew I had to obey God.  I’m so thankful I have because God has forgiven me when I’ve needed forgiveness and He’s blessed me with His goodness.

I believe God was preparing me to become stronger in this battle with addiction since I knew in my gut it was about to get worse.

I learned a valuable lesson—how important forgiveness is with God.

I was tested again with forgiveness after hearing years later the mother in that family was sexually inappropriate with my son.

As hard as it was, I had to forgive that mother once again and let God deal with her sins.

Lesson learned…

I learned a lot from God…holding onto unforgiveness only hinders us.  We must forgive.  I must admit it was extremely difficult for me to forgive them, but I eventually forgave because I knew I had to obey God. Not only did I have to forgive those parents, but I later had to learn to forgive some of my family members as well…

I learned other valuable lessons from God as my Son’s addiction path continues…

I’d love to hear from you…have you ever had a lesson on forgiveness in hurtful things that others have done to you?