Forgiveness Is For Real

God had blessed me with a small group of believers whom I was charged to shepherd and serve, and here I was griping at God because those believers weren’t serving me.

“Lord, forgive me,” I said, and swung forward with renewed strength, as if my crutches were eagles’ wings.

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 12–13

Todd

I’ve made a few mistakes in my life.

Okay, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Put that together with my vocation, and you have a pastor who’s made a lot of mistakes.

Fortunately, the church I pastor is made up of church members who’ve made mistakes too. I’m guessing your church is made up of the same kind of people.

You may have heard that pastor’s kids aren’t perfect either. When something gets broken at our church, the board members joke, “It must have been the pastor’s kids.”

I give it right back to them and say, “Yes, they were playing with the board members’ kids.”

Let’s face it. We all still need grace. We always will.

In Heaven Is for Real, I wrote about some of my failures. For example, it was wrong for me to whine to God about the hand I’d been dealt—a broken leg, kidney stones, and a cancer scare—when I’d been given so many blessings: a wonderful wife and children, work that I enjoyed, a comfortable home in a town that I loved, a church filled with good, hard-working believers.

It was also wrong for me to lash out at God with angry words in that closed-off hospital room as my toddler son was undergoing life-and-death surgery down the hall. The reason I feel it was wrong is because I crossed a line. You can be angry and honest with God, and that’s okay. But I went beyond that. In the midst of my pain, I was blaming God for some of Satan’s attacks against me and my family.

I fell for one of the games Satan plays all the time. He attacks. He hurts. Then he points his crooked finger at God and tries to get us to believe God did it to us. As a thirteen-year-old explained to me, “Satan hurts you. Then he frames God for it.”

Closed off in that room I was definitely pleading for intervention, and if I had stopped at that point, it wouldn’t have been wrong. But I didn’t stop. I fell for Satan’s trick. So that episode became one of my very public mistakes, thanks to Heaven Is for Real. I don’t know if I could write a book long enough to even begin to cover the rest.

But here’s the thing: the God who created me knows I’ll mess up again. He expects it. And he can handle it.

The Bible is full of stories about believers who made terrible mistakes, including murder and adultery. Yet when they asked for forgiveness God extended his grace and then used those believers and their mistakes to accomplish mighty things for his kingdom.

Consider the apostle Peter, who made what might be considered the most humiliating mistake of all time. One night as Jesus and the apostles were eating supper, Jesus warned Peter (who was also called Simon) that he was about to make a mistake. He said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32 NIV).

Peter was probably shocked by Jesus’ words. At that point he did what I’ve done. He argued with Jesus. Today the dialogue might have gone something like this:

“You’re going to fail me, Peter.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“No, Jesus. I would never do that.”

At that point, Jesus must have thought, Peter, you are so dense.

But Peter was stubborn. He yelled, “Jesus, I would die for you tonight!”

Oops. Things didn’t happen quite the way Peter pictured them. Just a few hours later, Peter fell asleep while supposedly keeping watch in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then, sure enough, after Jesus was arrested and led away by Roman guards, a servant girl in the courtyard recognized Peter and told the others, “This man was with him.”

And how did big, bad, bold fisherman Peter respond? He wilted in front of a little girl and denied his Christ. That’s pretty embarrassing!

As Satan sifted Peter like wheat, the first of the three denials came out: “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

Peter denied that he knew Jesus two more times that hard night, and no sooner was the third denial out of his mouth than the rooster crowed and Peter realized he had done exactly as the Lord predicted. The Bible says he “wept bitterly” and the weight of his mistake bore down on him (Matt. 26:75)—just like our mistakes bear down on the rest of us when we blow it.

What we don’t know but can picture is that while Peter was weeping he probably didn’t remember those other words Jesus had said: I have prayed for you, Simon. . . . And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Not if you turn back, but when you turn back . . .

Probably what Peter missed was that not only did Jesus know Peter was going to fall that night, but he also knew Peter was going to get back up.

The Message version of the Bible paraphrases Jesus’ words this way: “Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.”

I hope that Heaven Is for Real and Heaven Changes Everything will strengthen your faith and give you a fresh start on your road to heaven. That’s what Christ’s church is all about: helping each other up when we’ve fallen down.

I remember a few phrases my grandma drilled into my life. One of her favorites was, “Son, if you hit bottom, pick something up while you’re down there.” Well, this is what I’ve picked up from those times when I’ve blown it: God’s forgiveness is real, and his grace is endless.

Am I embarrassed to be a pastor and have millions of people find out about my sins when they read Heaven Is for Real? No, I’m not embarrassed. I’m forgiven.

The other thing I’ve learned is that Satan is the accuser. He wants us to believe that God’s patience is limited and that forgiveness comes with an expiration date. But that’s not true. There’s no hurt Satan can inflict that Jesus can’t help. No joy he can’t restore. No wrong direction he can’t provide a U-turn for. Jesus, not Satan, controls the outcome.

Maybe you already know the rest of the story—how, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared on the shore while Peter and some of the other disciples were out fishing. Jesus cooked breakfast for his friends, and then he took Peter aside. Carefully and deliberately, he restored Peter from each one of his three denials. Three times he asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter got to answer, “Yes, Lord, I do.”

Then Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.” In other words, strengthen your brothers.

When we’ve made a mistake, he offers us the same forgiveness and restored relationship with him. And then he urges us, strengthen the others.

If you’ve never experienced Jesus’ forgiveness, let me assure you, it’s for real. All you have to do is ask. On the other hand, maybe you’ve asked for forgiveness hundreds, even thousands of times and have received it but now feel reluctant to ask again. I promise you, the well of Jesus’ forgiveness is so deep it never runs out.

Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

—John 21:17–19 MSG