I was home again. In an effort to make peace, I sought out the person whose power had brought me to experience homelessness, unrighteousness, and pain. After all, he was a “positional” Christian, and under God’s law, I owed him nothing except love (Rom. 13:8 NIV). I held out my hand and he shook it, politely inquiring if my unpacking had gone well. I nodded, unable to stop silent tears from streaming down my face. Nonetheless, I was satisfied. I accomplished pono (righteousness) between us and my heart knew God was pleased.
Five months later, the Association let our manager go. Shortly afterwards, I found myself in the laundry room, sharing my homeless story with the head of the Association. I was told to hire an attorney because I had broken no lease terms to warrant an eviction. I could sue.
I considered the advice. Who had more “right” to sue than I had? Then, once again, a bible verse gently “walked” across my mind. “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?” (1 Cor. 6:7 NIV) These were tough questions. At first, I resisted. What was God after?
“Forgive” quietly echoed in my head. I sighed heavily. I had forgiven. My heart was clean. I tossed out that good-looking temptation.
(A Story of Homelessness…continues
in Part 3 of 3)
Scripture from the New International Version (NIV) of the bible.
Romans 12:19 (CJB) The Complete Jewish Bible
ReplyDelete14 Bless those who persecute you- bless them, don't curse them! 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be sensitive to each other's needs- don't think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don't be conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good. 18 If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people. 19 Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God's anger; for in the Tanakh it is written,
"ADONAI says, 'Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.'"