His Last Chance: His Last Hope Series, #3 by M. A. Malcolm

Author:M. A. Malcolm
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M. A. Malcolm
Published: 2022-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Zoë-Grace tensed. Was Aunt Ruby calling her father a false prophet? Before she could ask, Aunt Ruby said, “It says right here that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. It seems to me, dear, that your father was a tree that bore good fruit—indeed, based on your description of him, he seems to have borne the best fruit: the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

“We may never know for sure what your father was doing in that line that night, but we know the fruit he bore, and without divine revelation regarding the matter, that’s all we can know. Leave the judgment to God, which is what that deaconess should have done.”

Aunt Ruby went on, “Ask God to help you let go of the burden you’ve been carrying since your father died and move forward with your life. If you haven’t already, you should ask God to help you to forgive your mother, as well. Unforgiveness is a hindrance to any true relationship with God. If you think you’re not hearing from Him, perhaps that’s because He’s been waiting to hear from you about this particular thing.”

“I’ve been asking Him to help me forgive them both, but my mother isn’t even sorry for the things she’s done! I don’t know how to forgive her.”

“Forgiveness can’t hinge on the other person’s feelings or behavior, Zoë-Grace. It hinges on our desire to get rid of that albatross hanging around our necks. It hinges on our desire to get right with God. After all, don’t we pray that He will forgive us as we forgive others? How then can we expect to walk in His mercy and grace if we’re not willing to extend that mercy and grace to others? Remember, mercy is not getting what we deserve—punishment—and grace is getting what we don’t deserve—blessings.”

Mrs. Fairweather added, “And don’t forget that ‘to forgive’ is a verb. It’s a choice we make. It’s a decision we may have to take every day for who knows how long, until we can think about that person without bitterness, and we can go the rest of our lives without bringing up that situation again.”

If that was the definition of forgiveness, then Zoë-Grace wasn’t sure she could ever forgive her mother for all she had done for the last year, but she knew she wanted God to forgive her, so she would have to keep trying.

Mrs. Fairweather continued, “It’s a pity Roy isn’t here at the moment. He could teach you a thing or two about forgiveness. He made you a small pot of chicken soup, by the way. Which reminds me,” she glanced at her watch, “congratulations, dear. You’ve made it to the end of your first fast. I’ll get you some soup in a minute, but first, let’s pray to end your fast.”

She offered thanks that Zoë-Grace had survived her first fast, and that they had had a good Bible study. She also prayed that

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