I’m pretty sure I’ve cornered Bigfoot

Guest Post by Nicole White

Growing up I liked to watch “The Six Million Dollar Man”. My favorite episodes were the ones with Bigfoot, who was scary and mysterious at the same time. You never saw him until the end of the episode, so I’d sit through the boring dialogue waiting for little glimpses of him running through the woods, then the finale when Steve Austin would fight him.

I have this theory that the thing we call forgiveness—not easy, little forgiveness but great-big, hard-to-do forgiveness over deep wrongs—is like Sasquatch.

As Christians we know we should forgive, and that sometimes it is easy. But there are times when it’s harder and forgiveness is elusive. This has been an ongoing issue in my life, a deep hurt that I knew I needed to forgive but felt clueless how to pull off. I could say that I forgave, but I knew it was only words.

This is where Bigfoot comes in. I had heard about forgiveness, read about forgiveness, chased forgiveness, desired forgiveness, but I had never even seen so much as a shaggy glimpse of it far off in the trees.

I was beginning to think that, like Sasquatch, what I sought couldn’t be found and that I would be stuck in the rut of hurt for the rest of my life.

Then I took a brave step and admitted to a trusted friend and counselor that I was struggling. I admitted that I was weary of wrestling with it, weary of cycling unwillingly through wounds and offenses, but felt completely unable to stop. We started meeting weekly, I began to pray unceasingly, and slowly my picked-over, festering wounds were cleaned and bound and allowed to heal.

Finally, I felt and knew forgiveness firsthand—not abstractly, but tangibly. I caught a glimpse of Bigfoot—forgiveness—running through the trees, and went from wanting it to exist to knowing that it does.

That has made all the difference. I now know it is real and what I need to do to get it.

Forgiveness is a process. I’m not done. I must actively continue to forgive, but now I know what it is.

Forgiveness is not about the other person and doesn’t really need to involve them in the process. It is about you.

Forgiveness is an act of yielding—not giving up, but yielding over. When we decide not to be mad any more, it can feel like we are giving up and losing the battle. Not so. It is yielding over the hurt to God and trusting Him with it.

Getting rid of all that angry, yucky stuff inside of you leaves a void. You have to fill the void. For every ‘someone wronged me’ that you jettison, you must insert a ‘Jesus loves me and has made me whole’.

Sasquatch—forgiveness—is out there. I cannot truthfully say that I have captured him, but I have seen him running through the trees. And now there is great hope in chasing him.

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P.S. We’d love to know your thoughts, so please be sure to comment below. Each of our commenters will be entered in a drawing for this month’s FREE book giveaway, Mothers & Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship by author Teena Stewart. 

Nicole White is a lifelong learner and teacher.  Science was her passion, leading her to a masters degree in quantum mechanics, until she found a better pursuit: studying God’s truths. This speaker, blogger, wife, mom of 3, science teacher and storyteller will make you laugh and make you think as she brings life lessons from God’s word. Her blog can be found at nicolewhitespeaks.com.

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