It was a day of firsts: the first day of our trip west; the the first trip with an electric vehicle; the first time to drive said vehicle with a trailer; the first experience at a charge station… Surely we wouldn’t have to unhitch the trailer to charge!
When we pulled up to that first charge station of our trip, however, and saw it was in the middle of a very, very busy mall parking lot; when we saw that there weren’t any pull-through chargers and too many electric cars charging to be able to block one to charge, my heart sank. We would have to drop the trailer. But where?
A brief trip around the mall found an unexpected but welcome sight: One of the back parking lots for the mall was … empty! Thank You, Lord! Imagine our horror when we returned after charging to find that this “empty” parking lot was now packed full of cars, and one of them was parked right in front of our trailer. We wouldn’t be able to rehitch until the owners came to move their car…
I’m not proud of the thoughts that began swirling through my head: Why would someone intentionally park in front of a trailer? What were they thinking?
The sun beat down, bringing the temperature in that parking lot to 40 C (105 F), but that was nothing compared to my mounting ire. Especially as 30 minutes turned to 60, and then 90, with no sign of the belligerent owners of that vehicle! I knew I needed to forgive. That’s what the Bible teaches us to do. But these people intentionally did something to hurt us! I would never do anything like this!
But wait. I was busy excusing myself for not forgiving this person, wasn’t I? My belief was that if I wouldn’t do something like this, then there was no way that I would be expected to forgive it! I was comparing this person to my own “perfection”… but I am not perfect, am I? And if I’m not perfect, how could I expect these people to be perfect? Maybe I wouldn’t park in front of a trailer, but I’ve unintentionally done myriads of other thoughtless things. How could I possibly judge this unknown person against my own, imperfect self?
The Bible teaches us that we must forgive just as we have been forgiven: “…be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32 NLT) and “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (Colossians 3:13 NLT). Wait. Jesus looks out and sees what I’ve done. He compares it to His own sinless self, and He sees that I have committed something that He would never do. Nonetheless, He forgives me!
That’s when I realized that I needed to look at forgiveness with the backdrop of the cross. Even though I did things that Jesus would never do, He forgave me, and so, I must also forgive when people do things that I wouldn’t do.*
But how was I supposed to forgive these people who had just cut 1.5 hours out of my day? If I forgave them, I would be “enabling” them to be even more thoughtless.
But wait. When Jesus chose to forgive me all of my sins, it didn’t mean that what I had done was right…
I had to make a similar choice. Forgiving this thoughtless person didn’t make what she did right; it simply meant I would no longer carry my anger towards her.
And I made that choice. Then and there.
I wish I could say the owner of that car came out right away after that, but no, it was another hour before she finally appeared. I had plenty of time to get angry all over again; but each time I remembered to look at what she had done through the backdrop of the cross. Each time I forgave. As I watched her finally get into her car, I realized something: She didn’t even realize she was blocking my trailer!
In the end, I laugh about this incident. You see, although we did get into our campground after dark, another camper brought us a big light to use as we set up camp. When I returned the borrowed light, I learned that the lender was currently seeking the Lord. In that brief 5 minutes, I was able to share my Jesus. God had permitted that lady to park in front of our trailer because He wanted me to share my faith with the light-lender. He had been behind it all along: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)
As this realization swept over me, I couldn’t help but thank God for helping me, back there in that hot, sticky parking lot, to forgive. Not because what she did was right, not because she had done something that I might have also done, but because I was to forgive as I have been forgiven.
It is so easy to only extend forgiveness when people do things that we, ourselves, might find ourselves doing; but when someone does you wrong, look at it with the backdrop of the cross. Jesus forgave us for all the things that He would never do!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
