Devotions

Devotion-I wanted to ask your forgiveness                            

“Before I was afflicted I went astray. But now I keep Your word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.” Psalms 119: 67 & 71 NKJV

“I can’t believe that you would do something deceitful. You’ve never done something like that before!” The hurt and anger punctuated those words as my son poured his frustration out to me.

Being deceitful was the farthest thing from my mind when I had gone ahead and made plans to see our granddaughters. Nothing seemed to be easy as I struggled to try and keep everyone “sort of happy,” in a split family situation. This time, scheduling for me was tight and I had hoped that I could make things work despite not getting a firm agreement from my son. In doing that, there was a communication break of several days with misunderstandings and hurt feelings that ensued.

Certainly, I could have done things differently. Now I was seeking to reach out in reconciliation and seek God’s direction in what He would have me do. While I felt like I had done the right thing, I recognized that I had gone about it the wrong way.

Searching the Scriptures, I came upon some directions in Psalms 119 that spoke to me. In this passage, I realized that sometimes God allows us to do something, so we can get straightened out and get back on the right track. In struggling through these hard life lessons, I can learn God’s statutes for myself and take them to heart.

On the advice of a dear Christian friend, who is a regular student of the Bible, I used her suggestion to start a dialog with my son and pour oil on troubled waters.

I started with a text: “I realize I haven’t been the mother I could have been and I want to ask your forgiveness for how I have wounded you. Will you forgive me?”

I was soon alerted to a response text from my son. He assured me of his love and appreciation and that he felt that there wasn’t anything that could not be overcome through the grace of God.

Oh, that we would always come before God in humble, yielded submission to not only seek His will but ask for grace to seek to forgive and be forgiven.