Ready to Forgive

Have you ever read the book of Nehemiah? I’ve been reading through the Bible using The Bible Recap and yesterday I was in Nehemiah. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read Nehemiah before, but it’s actually a pretty interesting book. Nehemiah was a cup bearer to the King of Persia who is tasked, by God, with rebuilding the wall that surrounds Jerusalem and between him and the rest of the men, they completed the build in 52 days (Neh 6:15)! Clearly God was with them and only because of Him were they able to build it that quickly. While that story in and of itself is incredible, that’s not where I’m going to camp out today.

Today we’re going to look at Nehemiah 9:17, which says, “They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.” Even though this is in reference to the people of Israel when God brought them out of Egypt, it is so applicable today! This verse comes in the middle of a prayer in Nehemiah 9 and I couldn’t love it more if I tried!

It begins with “They refused to obey” which sounds relatable. How many times do we know what we ought to be doing and simply refuse to? We might even have really good “reasons” as to why we’re refusing to be obedient to God, but honestly — there isn’t a “good enough” reason to be disobedient to Him. We all have done it and we all will do it again — that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t even try to be obedient (Rom. 6:15). I’m just pointing out that the people of Israel weren’t so much different than us — they were human just like we are and struggled against sin just like we do.

The next part mentions that they were, “were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them” — in other words, they forgot about the things that God had done for them in the past. Have you ever done that? I know that I have. Sometimes — especially in the midst of a struggle — I forget about how God has shown Himself faithful in the past. It can be easy to get so caught up in whatever is going on that I forget to think back on all the many ways that He has been faithful before. I’ve told Marc that we should keep a list of our blessings and times when God has shown Himself faithful, so that we can look back on it any time we need a reminder. God has done incredible things in my life and I don’t want to forget His goodness and faithfulness in the midst of my busyness or pain.

The next part of the verse says, “but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.” The people of Israel wanted to return to what they knew. Instead of going forward into the unknown where God was leading them, they thought slavery in Egypt was a better option because at least they knew what they were getting there. It’s easy — as someone who is able to read about the whole story — to look at the people of Israel and think that they were foolish for even considering returning to slavery when we know that the Promised Land really is ahead of them, but sometimes we’re just like them. Sometimes we know that God is asking us to trust Him and follow wherever He leads us. Maybe He even parts the waters for us to leave our old life behind in a miraculous way, but when we find ourselves in the wilderness, not completely certain of how much longer it’s going to take to get to our destination — we began to complain and get grumpy and just might tell Him that “slavery” — or our “old life” — was better because at least we knew what was going on. If we could see how close we were to the “Promised Land” we’d think we were foolish to consider returning to our old life — just like the people of Israel.

So, even after we’ve turned away and have been disobedient, God still wants us to return to Him. The next part of the verse says, “But you are a God ready to forgive,” — you guys, He is ready to forgive! It breaks His heart when we turn away from Him. It breaks His heart when we sin. It breaks His heart when we don’t trust Him, yet He is always waiting for us to look to Him again because He wants to forgive us. He wants our attention, our affection, our devotion, our hearts — He wants us. He wants all of our hurts, fears, failures, mistakes — He wants all of us, every single part because He is ready to forgive! Don’t ever miss that or forget it. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, you’re never too far gone for Him and He wants to forgive you. Every. Single. Time.

Not only is He ready to forgive, He is also “gracious and merciful” which is such good news! He gives us unmerited favor and He withholds what we really deserve. He loves to give His children good gifts and He will show grace and mercy to anyone who turns to Him. He forgives us and then goes above and beyond to bless us in ways we don’t deserve and He took the punishment that we deserved upon Himself. God isn’t just looking for people to love Him — He’s looking for people to show His grace, mercy, and forgiveness toward. He is love and He wants us to experience His love — there is nothing like it and when you experience it, it changes you in the best way.

If all of that wasn’t enough, the verse reminds us that He is, “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” He is slow to anger because He is so patient — as in He is patience because love is patient and He is love. Whenever we sin, we don’t have to be afraid to bring it to God and confess it to Him because He isn’t going to lash out at us for confessing things to Him — remember that He is ready to forgive us. He doesn’t shame us for our mistakes. I’m not saying that there aren’t things that anger Him — I know that there are — I’m just reminding all of us that we don’t ever have to be afraid of Him because He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He is overflowing with unwavering love. Even when we do something that grieves Him — He is still ready to forgive us. Even when we’re stubborn and refuse to obey Him — He is still overflowing with unwavering love for us.

This brings us to the last part of this verse which says, “and did not forsake them.” He didn’t forsake the people of Israel and He won’t forsake us either. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Again in Hebrews 13:5 we read, “…for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” God isn’t going anywhere and there is nothing that we can do to get away from Him. He isn’t bound by time or space and when He says He will never leave us nor forsake us, He’s serious. We can trust Him because He is — and always has been — faithful, even when we’re faithless.

So, no matter where you find yourself or what is up ahead in your journey, always remember that God is ready to forgive, He is gracious and merciful, He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and He will never forsake you. You can trust Him and He can handle anything you throw at Him. Don’t run from Him when you disobey, run to Him and receive the forgiveness that He is waiting to give you. Life is hard, we can be stubborn, and God is always good — all the time.

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “O Come to the Altar” by Elevation Worship and “Never Beyond Repair” by Everfound. Enjoy!