Read: Psalms 103:12 NLT
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Some time ago, a dear friend shared with me the story of a painful time in her life. I felt she had been wanting to share her story with me for quite a while but reliving the time was painful and I suspect she was concerned about being judged or losing me as her friend. Quite the opposite happened – my love for her grew. Instantly I told her that I loved her because God loves her. But then I followed that statement by saying I loved her because I once was her. Indeed, I had experienced a similar story in my past. As I watched her expend an enormous amount of emotional grief for the choices she made in her life, I was struck by my lack of emotion. Not my emotion for her and her story, but the emotion I felt in the memory of my own mistakes resurfacing, I was surprised to realize I felt nothing. It concerned me. Was I that cold-hearted that I do not feel remorse for my own mistakes?
Later, I was reminded of the scripture from Psalms and how God has forgiven me. My sin is as far from His memory as the east is from the west. You don’t have to be a geography expert to know that He has forgotten my sin forever. Knowing that, I still wondered why I felt no sadness or pain. As I continued to process my absence of emotion, I realized I had finally forgiven myself. After so many years of continual self-inflicted emotional abuse, I was free. So much so that the memory of my sin was also as far as the east is from the west.
I have since watched my beautiful friend grow in her relationship with God and walk farther and farther east. Her emotional pain is lessening, and she is finding freedom. Anyone of us who have lived a life imprisoned by the sins of their past has the same opportunity to start traveling east. God is already on the journey, don’t wait too long to catch up to Him.
