2 Chronicles 6:28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
2 Chronicles 6:29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house,
2 Chronicles 6:30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,
2 Chronicles 6:31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

We were in church on Sunday and was listening to the preacher teach on prayer, and as he was reading through the above passage, verse 30 caught my ear.

The passage begins with Solomon asking God to forgive those who are suffering under a famine, a pestilence, a blight, or mildew or locust or caterpillar, even if their enemies besiege them at the gates – whatever the plague many be, Solomon asks God to hear their prayer from heaven, and to forgive them.

During his reading, I was tracking with the preacher, but then he read out the following

and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways

Forgiveness and justice? If we are forgiven, why does Solomon suddenly revert to associating what the Israelite gets with what he does, with the way he walks and lives his life?

Something seemed off in my mind, and as usual, when misunderstanding a passage of Scripture, what was off was my mind, my way of thinking!

You see, during his reading I had brought into my thinking that forgiveness removed the past, removed history from my life, removed my past actions and wrongdoings, with all the impacts and damage that come as a result of walking in sin.

Forgiveness removes guilt, and restores relationship. Forgiveness does not change the past. Forgiveness can change the future, but the past is cast in stone!

So often we think that forgiveness is the cure all for a life of sin, that we can run with the devil and get right with God at the end, with all our destructive ways somehow becoming rainbows and lollipops. Our rebellion will leave scars on our lives and the lives we touch, but thankfully, with the forgiveness provided by the Lord, we have hope that under His leadership, our ways will produce opportunity for blessings to flow from our lives.

As we follow Him, and understand how blessed He is, and how often and deeply He blesses us, we are to follow in the same, and provide blessing to others.

For Solomon, I can imagine him telling us that the blessings God renders to each of our hearts is according to all of our ways. Rebellion produces bitterness, anger, resentment, confusion, hatred, and such.

But be careful, for this is not simply a tit for tat type of message, for our hearts have to be changed in order to produce the ways God is pleased with. Our hearts have to be forgiven, in order for us to truly forgive others, to reach out to those we may have hurt and find ways to bless them.

Forgiveness and justice are related, but not the way I originally thought in my broken mind. Justice occurs to every single person on this earth. It may be delayed, or seem out of place at times, but justice is an unavoidable reality for each of us. Forgiveness provides us the strength to accept the just results of a life poorly lived, the wisdom to resolve those acts of sin against others in the past (if possible), and the power to be different, to be a blessing instead of a selfish &#!!!*%. His death provided us the opportunity for forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection provides us this power to live a life of blessing others.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

My friend – Get right with God as early as possible, so that you may experience the opportunity of being a blessing to others and as a side benefit, allow the God of justice to render to your life the blessings He wants to shower on you. But as we who know the Lord, He is One who does hoard blessings to Himself but is gracious, giving and loving. As we share, we will find out that God renders blessings to those whose ways are a blessing.

Be a blessing to someone today. Go out of your way to help someone, to surprise them with a kind word or action. And be blessed by blessing them.

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