Fresh from multiple splashes of unprecedented miracles, they had seen the side of God that no one else ever saw. They had experienced the mighty acts of God and they even saw a glimpse of the glory of God. There was nothing that they needed that God had not brought their way as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land. You naturally expect them to be grateful to this great God. What did God get in return? COMPLAINTS!
Ah! If I were God…In fact, thank God that I’m not God. I may have become so angry with the people and then with a wave of hand destroy them, sparing only people like Moses and his assistants. Not even Aaron would have survived my wrath as I would have remembered when he made a golden calf for the people. However, God in His unfailing love always forgave them and kept on working with them. The amazing thing is that most times, God forgave them because of the intercession of Moses and not even because of their repentance. How merciful and loving our God is.
As long as we are still on this side of eternity, offence will always come in different forms and from different people, including people that you have shown love to. It will also come from people that you have made sacrifices for. The natural thing to do is to hold it against them, but we have the grace to live like Christ did. He forgave the very people that crucified Him. As His disciples, He expects us to walk in His footsteps. In that way, we will also be forgiven when we err, as we often do.
Stephen also demonstrated this great spirit of forgiveness, when he prayed for the people that were stoning him, asking God not to hold them responsible for his death. Paul, the great apostle was in that company that stoned him to death. Who knows what would have happened to the souls that got saved through Paul’s ministry, if Stephen called down the judgement of God on that day.
As we continue in our Christian walk, becoming more and more like Christ, we can seek the help of the Holy Spirit in this area. Forgiveness can become natural to us. It may take some time, but if we continue working at it and engaging the help of the Holy Spirit, we’ll surely get there in Jesus’ name.
Chidi Ukandu's Blog 