The emotional impact of repentance

Yesterday I shared a story with you about healing in Eli’s life.

I heard many similar stories. Some aspects that came up in Eli’s occurred more often.

It taught me what God can do if we give Him the space.

What I heard over and over again is the impact of repentance, washing of feet and creating a space where pain can be released and revealed.

These may sound vague, so I’ll try to be concrete.

The women I met did not just pray for unity, they went out to people who are different than them and repented for the pain in their lives.

Whether this was pain from the past during apartheid, or more recently.

Making space to weep

I learned about the importance of lament. Of creating a space where people can hear each other’s pain.

Not stepping over pain, but genuinely listening and making space to weep.

The bible is full of books and stories of people who weep. David is honest in his Psalms. There’s a whole book called Lamentations, and the prophets cry out to God for their nation.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

God is not afraid to step into our pain, and we should not be afraid of each other’s pain.

I saw people stepping into each other's pain. Not just of people who look like them. South Africa is still a deeply divided country, but I saw people from different ethnic backgrounds, different classes and cultures being open to hear each other’s stories.

The Afrikaner woman listening to the trauma of a Zulu woman must feel guilty; because of their history, she represents everything that caused the trauma.

And a black man listening to the trauma of a white woman whose family is murdered on a farm isn’t easy either: he represents the suffering in her life.

It brings me to another lesson I learned: there is só much power in genuine repentance.

Repentance as a key to freedom

Saying sorry is easy when you don’t know the depth of someone’s pain. But if you’ve stepped into that, God can bring healing through repentance.

I saw people repenting in the name of a whole group they represent. The women who repented to Eli didn’t cause the trauma, but they represented the group that did.

Because these women first heard Eli’s story and wept with him, he was able to receive their repentance and forgive them.

The anger I talked about in the previous days? He was able to let go of it.

If anger is the prison that keeps us trapped, repentance might be the key that unlocks forgiveness, leading to real freedom.

Release of hidden pain

I saw pain coming out that had been hidden for a long time. Some pain is so heavy, it needs to be received.

There’s power in repentance, in taking responsibility for the sins of the people you represent. It reminds me of the prophets who repented to God on behalf of their people.

You can read about it in Nehemiah (1:6), Jeremiah (14:20) and Daniel (9:8, 20).

Hearing someone’s pain and repenting for a sin you did not commit yourself is humbling.

That’s exactly what Jesus did:

We are called to follow Jesus in this. But how can we do that in our own lives? I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

Until then, may you walk in peace,

Thirza

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