May I please rewind to a time when I didn’t know the word “betrayed”?
Betrayed is such a bad-tasting word. Those letters leaves an acrid taste in my mouth, like smoke after a fire. The flames may be gone, yes, but the awful ashes remain.
I wish betrayed meant what the little girl at the front of the church last Sunday thought it meant. When the leader telling the children a story asked if anyone knew the meaning of betrayed, the pigtailed pixie mentioned carrying food on a tray. Be-trayed.
If only that were truly the meaning, but I know better. After all, I’ve been on both sides of that word: the one left with the ashes, and the one throwing wood into the fire.
Perhaps it was the Easter story I reread no long ago that brought the word into the forefront of my mind. What went through Peter’s mind just after the rooster crowed, just before he wept? What expression did Jesus wear during that split-second after Peter’s betrayal when He looked at this disciple He loved so much He was willing to die for him (Luke 22:61)?
What kind of heart forgives a forsaking like that?
What kind of heart indeed?
Only one.
Only One.
So I come to the Savior. And the Heart-that-Loves-Anyway whispers forgiveness. For the moments in which I have betrayed Him by turning away like Peter did. For saying with my lips or with my life, No, I don’t know Him.
He forgives the betrayal and I can live in the light of His love again. In the radiance of real redemption, which is so much sweeter a word.
How have you experienced the redemption of Christ in your life?
I really enjoyed this…even more so after reading the bio of the very young woman who in wisdom and maturity poured out these words. ” and the heart that loves anyway whispers forgiveness.” Will dream with these words in my heart tonight. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Lisha!