"The mercy of God and the forgiveness is to slacken and waste our wrath."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 48)
It is eye-opening to see that salvation is all for our benefit, not God's. We have a God who is always loving us, always accepting us, always has His arms open wide to us in friendship, always expresses friendship towards us. Since He never turns away from us, never gets offended with us, we see that salvation isn't to change God's mind about us but to change our mind about God. We may feel resistant to God out of fear or guilt or out of confusion because of erroneous images of God that we have been taught. God breaks down the walls of defensiveness and fear we have built up against Him. He shows us in Christ that He is all loving and gentle and friendly. He gives us all forgiveness and has compassion on us as those who are wounded and in bondage and need rescue and help. So Christ's loving act on the cross slackens and dissolves our wrath, not God's. It appeases us, not the Father. It reconciles us to God, not God to us. It was all for us! We needed saving from lies, confusion, fear, shame, anger, struggle, bondage and pain. Christ rescued us. He rescued our minds from the lies we were caught in and rescued our bodies from death. Now we can walk with God in peace and love and acceptance and joy! What a Savior and what a salvation!
"Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."
Psalm 116:7-9
A Prayer: Thank You for always being at peace with me.Thank You for dissolving the anger inside of me so I can enjoy Your friendship!