A God Like You
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and
forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You
will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will
be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you
pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
Micah
7:18-20
“In moments where tragedy happens or
even hurt, there are opportunities to demonstrate grace or to exact vengeance,”
the recently bereaved man remarked. “I chose to demonstrate grace.” Pastor Erik
Fitzgerald’s wife had been killed in a car accident caused by an exhausted
firefighter who fell asleep while driving home, and legal prosecutors wanted to
know whether he would seek the maximum sentence. The pastor chose to practice
the forgiveness he often preached about. To the surprise of both him and the
firefighter, the men eventually became friends.
Pastor Erik was living out of the
grace he’d received from God, who’d forgiven him all of
his sins. Through his actions he echoed the words of the prophet Micah, who
praised God for pardoning sin and forgiving when we do wrong (Micah 7:18). The prophet uses wonderfully
visual language to show just how far God goes in forgiving His people, saying
that He will “tread our sins underfoot” and hurl our wrongdoings into the deep
sea (v. 19). The firefighter received a gift of freedom that day, which brought
him closer to God.
Whatever difficulty we face, we know
that God reaches out to us with loving, open arms, welcoming us into His safe
embrace. He “delights to show mercy” (v. 18). As we receive His love and grace,
He gives us the strength to forgive those who hurt us—even as Pastor Erik did.
How
do you respond to this story of amazing forgiveness? Can you think of someone
you need to forgive? If so, ask God to help you.
Father God, You love us without ceasing, and You delight to forgive us
when we return to You. Envelop us with Your love, that we might demonstrate
grace to those who hurt us.
Our
Daily Bread – January 22, 2020