Mensa Otabil - Forgiveness Brings Restoration
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I trust you are well, and may the favor of God follow you today as you honor the Lord and live for Him. Most of us have heard the story of Job; it’s a familiar tale in the Bible. Job was a very noble man—wealthy, righteous, and blessed in so many ways. Then, all of a sudden, things started going very wrong for him. He lost his business, lost his children, lost his marriage, and began to experience physical infirmities. In one moment, he was at the top of the world; in the next moment, he was down.
When his friends saw what had happened to him, they came to comfort him. They tried to help in the best way they could, and the way they understood it was to accuse Job of having brought calamity upon himself. They thought he had committed a secret sin and displeased God, which explained the situation he was in. Although they intended to comfort him, they actually complicated his problems. But the time came for God to restore Job to where he was, and there is a very interesting instruction that God gives to Job: He instructs Job’s friends to go and ask Job for forgiveness. The Bible records it in Job chapter 42, verse 10: «And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.»
I want you to note this: the Lord restored Job when he prayed for his friends. When he forgave them for all the things they had said and for the bitterness he harbored, he forgave them. Faith works through love, and love is manifested in forgiveness. Jesus taught, «When you stand praying, forgive if you have something against someone else.» For faith to really work, there has to be forgiveness, and that is what we see in the life of Job. Many miracles in our lives are waiting for manifestation, and they are contingent upon the time we release bitterness from our hearts. We need to release anger from our hearts and let go of the people who have hurt us. If we insist on holding onto pain, bitterness, and misunderstanding, then we limit our own prayers.
The Lord restored Job after he prayed for his friends. Is there somebody you should be praying for whom you would prefer not to pray for? Perhaps you would rather pray against them; you might wish to hear some bad news—that their leg is broken or that things are not going well for them and they have failed. Can you change your prayer and start praying for those same people, that they will be blessed and that it will be well with them? For God is about to restore you; He is about to give you your own portion. But before that happens, you must remove from your heart that which you have hidden there: the pain, the anger, and the unforgiveness.
There is power in faith, but the power of faith is expressed through love, and love is expressed through forgiveness. May the Lord answer your prayer. May your faith find expression and fulfillment. May you see your prayers answered. May you witness the heavens open over your life, and may your good days begin to roll by. But start by forgiving. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom—peace and life to you.