When Forgiveness Seems Impossible

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:25

Some wrongs feel too terrible, too evil to forgive. Is forgiveness ever out of the question?

At just 24 years old, Ayana had already lived through the unimaginable. Brutally gang-raped and left for dead in her home country of Ethiopia, she miraculously survived. Her family scraped together money to pay a human smuggler to get her to Canada, but along the journey, the smuggler robbed her and left her stranded in Germany. There, in a refugee camp, Ayana met a missionary named Monika. She approached Monika one day and asked for prayer. “I want to be in my right mind,”—Ayana couldn’t even be in the same room as a man without fleeing in panic.

As Monika prayed, she sensed God whispering that the key to Ayana’s healing was forgiveness. Monika hesitated—how could she ask someone to forgive such evil? But the thought wouldn’t go away. Gently, Monika asked, “Have you forgiven the men who did this to you?” “No,” Ayana replied. “Have you been forgiven by Jesus?” “Oh, yes!” she said. Monika continued, “Do you think about those men every day?” “Yes.” “Do you think they think about you every day?” “No.”

Then, Ayana prayed to forgive those attackers she’d been carrying with her. Opening her eyes, she cried, “They’re gone!” Later that day she sat next to a man at a worship service, torment free. By releasing the men to Jesus, who has the authority over all justice, Ayana’s mind was restored.

Jesus taught, “… when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” (Mark 11:25). Jesus understood the cost of forgiveness—He died for yours.

Who do you need to forgive?