A soft and gentle drizzle had just ended.  I stood underneath a small shelter to protect my camera and enjoyed this brief shower.  The summer has been so dry and the comforts of a slow cleansing rain have been few and far between.  In ten minutes the rains have ended but their tender influences still linger to refresh my thirsty soul.  As I stepped into the soggy grass the moist air planted a big wet kiss across my cheek as a raindrop fell from somewhere high above my head. 

        It seemed that every plant clung to the rare raindrops.  This flower had transformed into a theater as I stooped down to watch these transparent ballerinas dance across their velvet stage.  Gradually I watched each tiny dancer gracefully exit the stage.  Each performer appeared to curtsy prior to their dismount and quickly they disappeared from my sight.  And just like the pleasant rain that brought my tiny dancers their influence lingered long after their departure.  The flower had changed.  It had improved and grew lovelier from the touch of the raindrops.

        As I watched Mother Nature bathe the flower I was reminded of how the Lord cleanses us.  Like the dusty flower we get dirty.  We live in a polluted world.  Sometimes we are selfish, unkind and even cruel.  Occasionally we go long periods of time harboring grudges, holding resentment or seeking vengeance.  And with each dusty day spent in our self imposed exile, we turn our paradise into a wasteland of our own making.  An unforgiving spirit steals our freedom and locks us away in the prison of hurt feelings.

        We suffer and grow more thirsty with each passing day lived in this unforgiving desert.  Why not set yourself free today?  You have the key and can unlock the dirty cell that has imprisoned you any time you choose.  We can’t change the past.  Perhaps someone has hurt you.  Let it go.  Release the bitterness that has shackled you to the hurtful past.  Forgive them and you can walk away free.  You can enjoy the cleansing rain of forgiveness any time you choose.  Happiness is a choice.  Choose to forgive and enjoy the liberty of a free spirit or choose to stay in the dirty cell of your resentment.  Life lived without forgiveness becomes a prison.  Choose to enjoy the refreshing rain!

Something to think about:

• Never does the human soul become so strong as when it dares to forgive an injury.

• As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one.

• Forgiveness is a funny thing—it warms the heart and cools the sting.

• It is cheaper to pardon than to resent. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred.

• There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. It refuses to be soothed, it refuses to be healed, it refuses to forget.

• Don’t carry a grudge. While you’re carrying the grudge the other guy’s out dancing.

• Forgiveness is always free. But that doesn’t mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful (sometimes literally) to admit our sins and ask for forgiveness.

• A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

Thankful for the freedom that comes from forgiveness
Rickey Moore