A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
Forgiven! At peace with God! Isn’t that the longing of every human heart?
But not many of us feel forgiven or at peace. We are more anxious and fearful, it seems,
than any people who lived. Then, at least, threats to our health and safety were obvious. We
could rally to meet them with fortitude. But now? Business institutions we thought unshakeable
have disappeared. Uncontrolled inflation puts some necessities out of our reach. We are
threatened with man-made, proliferating viruses. Small, unstable countries have developed earth-
threatening nuclear devices. It’s no wonder that many of us wake up in the morning anxious.
The ultimate reality we fear, of course, is death and what awaits beyond death. We may
not talk about it much, may not even admit it, but it is the ultimate anxiety of life. Hebrews
2:14-18 says we’ve been prisoners all our lives because of our fear of death, and that’s why Jesus
came to earth: to deliver us from our bondage.
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the
Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could Jesus die, and
only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
Only in this way could Jesus set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to
the fear of dying. . . .
It was necessary for Jesus to be made in every respect like us, His brothers
and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.
Hebrews 2:14-17 NLT
When I was in high school, a woman at church sang a song that deeply troubled
me. “If I am dreaming,” she sang, “let me dream on that my sins are gone.” In essence, the
writer of the hymn seemed to say, it’s better to live with a dream, a lie, than to know the truth.
“If I’m dreaming that there is a good God who loves me and who provided a way for me to be
forgiven for my sin, if it’s only a dream, and not reality, I’d rather believe in the dream than
know the truth.” My young heart revolted at that terrifying thought. I’d rather know the truth,
no matter how ugly and dark, about eternity, than to live my life enveloped in a pleasant, cozy
lie. If Jesus hadn’t come to earth to die for my sins, I had to know the truth. If the Bible wasn’t
the very Word of God, I didn’t want to be comforted by its lies.
Thank God, He has given us irrefutable truth in His Word. It has been tested through the
ages, and found absolutely reliable. Jesus is God Himself. His death on the cross made
provision so that we could be forgiven for our sins, and made His beloved children.
Acts 1:3 says Jesus’ death and resurrection were authenticated by “many infallible
proofs.” “Infallible” means “incapable of error, unerring, never wrong.”
Forgiven? Yes, I am forgiven, unequivocally, without doubt, because Jesus died to pay
for every sin of mine. I have accepted His gift. I am forgiven, so I have peace.
(Keep this in mind, will you please, because in our next conversation we’ll talk about
“Unforgiven?”)