One Day

One day a man, his heart heavy
with grief, was walking
in the woods.

As he thought about his life
he knew many things were not right. He thought
about those who had lied about him back when he had a
job.
His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his
things and cheated him. He remembered family that had
passed on.
His mind turned to the illness he had that
no one could cure.

His very soul was filled
with anger, resentment and frustration.
Standing there this day, searching for answers
he could not find, knowing all else had failed him,
he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to seek the
One he knew would always be there. And with tears in
his eyes, he prayed:
” Lord- You have done wonderful things for me in
this life. You have told me to do many things for
You, and I happily obeyed.
Today, you have told me to
forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I cannot. I
don’t know how.
It is not fair Lord. I didn’t deserve
these wrongs that were done against me and I
shouldn’t have to forgive.
As perfect as your
way is, Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for
I don’t
know how to forgive.
My anger is so deep Lord, I fear
I may not hear you, but I pray that you teach me
to do this one thing I cannot do – Teach me To
Forgive.”

As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old
oak tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder.
He opened his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye,
he saw something red on his shirt.
He could not turn to see what it was because
where the oak tree had been was a large square piece
of wood in the ground. He raised his head and saw
two feet held to the wood
with a large spike through them.

He raised his head more, and tears came to his
eyes as he saw Jesus hanging on a cross. He saw
spikes in His hands, a gash in His side,
a torn and battered body,
deep thorns sunk into His head.

Finally he saw
the suffering and pain on His precious face.
As their eyes met, the man’s tears turned to
sobbing, and Jesus began to speak.

Have you ever told a lie, he asked?

The man answered – “yes Lord”.

Have you ever been given too much change and kept it?
The man answered “yes Lord”. And the man sobbed
more and more.

Have you ever taken something from work that wasn’t yours,
Jesus asked?

And the man answered “yes Lord”.

Have you ever sworn, using my Father’s name in
vain?

The man, crying now, answered “yes Lord”.
As Jesus asked many more times, “Have you ever…”?

The man’s crying became uncontrollable, for each time
he could only answer “yes Lord”.

Then Jesus turned His head from one side to the
other, and the man felt something fall on his
other shoulder. He looked and saw that it was the
blood of Jesus.
When he looked back up, his eyes met
those of Jesus,
and there was a look of love the man had
never seen or known before.
Jesus said, “I didn’t deserve this either, but
I forgive you.”

If God brings you to it – He will
bring you through it.