Overnight

“…Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side…. ‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” John 20:19, 23

 I recently attended a marriage seminar. One of the people speaking to us said his marriage changed overnight. I later questioned his wife. She said, “Our challenges remained, but our approach to our struggles changed overnight because we agreed with the Lord together that this would be His marriage and His work, for His glory.” I later had an honest prayer with the Lord expressing my frustration and confessing unbelief that this could really be possible. I remember saying, “I just can’t see it!”

Faithful One that He is, He showed me. I envisioned myself walking up a cold, steep and rocky path with a large duffle bag over my shoulder and dragging on the ground. I was sweating even as the cold wind challenged my climb. As I arrived at the top of the hill, there was the cross. Jesus hung there and our eyes met. I looked at the heavy sack and I looked at Him. He knew. He knew in that sack were all my sins and the unforgiveness for the sins done against me and the struggles and the disappointments of marriage.

I looked in His eyes and without words He told me I could not carry this load anymore. I was exhausted and hopeless. As I stared at Him, I noticed His pain, the excruciating suffering, His exhaustion, the weight of sin that he bore. Out of the corner of my eye I saw His Hand, bloodied with tendons and flesh exposed. He was closing His fingers repeatedly as you would to sign, “Let me have that.”

I said to Him, “How? It is too heavy to lift and look at what You are going through. Look what You are bearing. It is embarrassing that I even have these things saved.” He continued to look at me with love and plead with His hand to surrender the load. I finally tried to lift the weighty load to Him and as I did it became light; as He took it in His hand, it became a small organza gift bag with a satin string. I gazed at His face again and in His expression said, “I can carry this too. It is not too heavy for Me, but it is for you.”

This precious vision gave me the answer to, “I just can’t see how things can change in one day.” When the same struggles or insults come repeatedly in any relationship, I can picture the surrender of the heavy sack and its transformation to the organza bag. I picture His bleeding hand opening and closing a call to surrender. The testimony to His Glory is this: when I shared this vision with my husband, we both cried. It HAS changed our approach overnight.

Father, thank You for giving your Son. Jesus, thank You for taking my sin, for even asking to carry my sin. Holy Spirit, remind me to surrender my sins and unforgiveness quickly and not to keep any storage bags for the sins of others. Amen.