Setting the Captives Free | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Setting the Captives Free | Previous Challenge Entry
By Donna Powers
08/07/18
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Hello, Mr. Jones. I’m Maria. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me.

I want you to know my Carmelita was the light of my life.

I was a single mother, and it wasn’t easy to raise her on my own. But Carmelita made all my challenges seem trivial when I looked into her beautiful eyes; saw her ready smile or laughed at her quick wit. Most of all, there was her loving heart. Those things got me through all of her sixteen years.

But now Carmelita is gone; stolen in a split second by the careless actions of a drunk driver.

How can anything ever be fair again? How can my life ever hold any hope when my Carmelita will never fulfill the promise of her destiny?

I'm a Christian, but I’m struggling with my faith right now. I’m struggling to understand how God would allow her to be struck down so senselessly. I desperately want that struggle to end, and to be able to trust God and allow Him to heal me.

But I’ve come to realize something inside me is blocking that trust. My heart is sealed shut by that something; like a locked door - and it won’t allow God’s healing through.

You did a thoughtless thing, Mr. Jones. I won’t dwell on it, because I think you know how thoughtless it was; to get behind the wheel of your car when you were drunk, that night. You thoughtlessly drove your car, and it hit the car my baby girl was riding in. That crash took her life.

You’re in prison now, and I don’t presume to say whether that was the right punishment for your actions. But no matter what you've done; I’ve realized my rage and lack of forgiveness are keeping my soul as much a prisoner as the cell you are in right now.

So, I forgive you.

I forgive your thoughtlessness. I forgive you for the crash that took Carmelita’s life. I’m letting go of my hatred, anger, and resentment for you. I'm imagining it is floating upward like a child’s stray balloon. I’m allowing those feelings to soar to the heavens, where I believe God will transform them into acceptance and trust in Him.

That’s what I came here to say. That, and: God loves you. He loves you so very much He sent His Son to die for you. He can forgive any sin -including murder. And if you don’t know Him, and would like to hear more, I’m willing to spend as much time visiting you as it takes; to help you to understand and accept His grace.

I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, Mr. Jones - or what it feels like to be in prison. But I can promise you God knows - and He can transform every day of the rest of your life into a testimony of forgiveness and grace if you’re willing to accept it.

Are you willing, Mr. Jones?

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Colossians 3:13 KJV "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you."

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