Pray for You

We were somewhere in Kentucky, about half-way through a family road trip from Minnesota to Florida. Searching the radio for something we hadn't already listened to a dozen times, I finally settled on a country station. We heard a song called "Pray for You" by Jaron and the Long Road to Love:

Haven't been to church since I don’t remember when -
Things were goin’ great ‘til they fell apart again.
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do:
He said you can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you.
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn.
Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them...

I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill.
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill
and knocks you in the head like I’d like to.
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls.
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls.
I pray all your dreams never come true.
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you.

While the song sent Don and the girls into a fit of laughter ("We're laughing because we know it's wrong, Mom!"), I was mortified. In retrospect, I suppose I may have taken it a bit too seriously. After all, it's just a good ol' country song, intended to be funny. The truth of the matter is, though, that far too often we think similar thoughts when we are hurt by someone we love.

The pain is real. The sting is sharp. The wounds go deep. I know. I've been there. There's anger, numbness, pain, and oh, so many tears. And these feelings are multiplied when the offense happens repeatedly, or when the offender has no desire to change the behavior. It hurts.

What does God say to that? He counts our tears (Psalm 52:8). He feels our distress (Isaiah 63:9). He comforts us (II Corinthians 7:6). But He also tells us to forgive (Colossians 3:17). It is not ours to seek revenge, even though the world may be telling us that the offender should pay. God will take care of that. But true healing can never take place if we refuse to forgive those who hurt us.