This is good. So even though someone has had trouble with forgiveness and bitterness...God will not stop working on them too. PTL
If it's the same God that chisled away at me for 30 years to bring to the point of forgiving my sexual abuser (Christian foster dad) then yes he will not stop.
I used to go and visit my foster parents cause I loved my Foster mum over those years. She became aware of it but he promised to stop, turns out he was sent down for similar offence when running a children's home. In fact the CID turned up and when they asked me to step outside my foster mum pulled me aside an pleaded not to say anything.
Truth is i I was a rabbit caught in the headlights. At least at this place I was clothed and fed. The other alternatives were go back to my mother who threw me out at 14, she was a drunk hardly around and I had to look after 2 brothers, she used to beat and spread vicious rumours about me, like I had AIDS, or do I go to a children's home?
What a pick of 3 options for a 15 year old.
I chose to stay put because for my foster mother and my foster dad promised to stop.
Alas he did not but I couldn't tell her.
Boy was it hard when I visited. I would avoid him like the plague, he was nasty and contentious to me.
My wife used to tell me that I needed to forgive him but I would not listen.
When this man was dead then I would be free of him.
I used to whistle the song by Chris Rhea "The road to hell on the way down"
Any way we were meant to go down for a week. I rung up and made an excuse that I couldn't. She was upset.
When I put the phone down and I am going to tell the truth here, this is no lie.
My wife looked at me came over and gave me a hug then went off to tend our kids.
I sat in the quiet Then God said to me
"Bill let us go down next week and deal with this"
I said no, in fact I said it 4 times, I even said "When this bastard is dead then I will be free and will not deal with it"
Then God said with a bit of a sigh "Oh Bill what part of US are you not getting, I'm coming with you, it's you and me, I will help you, now will you go?
I said yes
So off we went and on the way down one of my kids asks mummy what tune I was whistling?
For 4 tortuous days I sat with this man and asked God to help me forgive him.
My mind was working overtime, memories flooding back, speaking in my mind forgiveness, rebuking Satan.
When we left I was exhausted, spiritually, emotionally and physically as a result of nightmares.
A short time after this I got a call from a hospital at work. He was on his deathbed could I go down? I said no because I was busy at work. Then again God said "Let us go down"
My wife and I went down, sat down by his bedside. "He looked at me and asked me to sort out his estate" I said yes.
We were there for 4 days, I held his hand and prayed for him, spent days mopping his brow.
After 4 days we left and he hadn't died.
He died a week later. I got the call from my foster brother, he suffers with severe dyslexia so couldn't deal with the estate.
So my wife and I went down to sort of the funeral and deal with estate. As we crossed the Tamar bridge into Cornwall and got over that bridge my wife said to me "You didn't whistle Road to Hell"
I sorted out his estate, arranged the funeral, came back home then actually went down for the funeral and came back home.
This process took 9 months.
As I contemplated this I stumbled across this following quote.
"To forgive is to set the prisoner free, only to realise that prisoner was you"
Then God said to me, "You would never have been free when he died unless you forgave him before but now you are free"
What a great God we have, who says
Romans 8:28-29
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Sorry for the long post everyone but I just wanted to share my experiences of how God fulfils his promises to his children.
Also I just want to say that my biological mother and I now have a wonderful relationship and now actually say we love each other. She never said that to me in the first 35 years of my life.
Furthermore she now believes in Jesus. Not bad for a family whose heritage is Muslim. That's why she rejected me because she fell pregnant outside of marriage to an infidel and I was the result.
What a wonderful, patient, kind and loving God we have.
I am glad he knows what he is doing.
Ps what's PTL
...It`s the first time i have resisted the devil, yes he fled...Oh my...Praise God...Now this will be part of my growing, knowing that the truth sets us free...I truly believe i have been set free today, i feel like scales have fell off my eyes lol...Thank you...xox...
