by Genevieve Schmitt
These last few years will go down in history as the covid years (yes, covid with a lower c; this bioweapon doesn’t deserve the status of capitalization). Many of us can rightly say we had a lot stolen during this season. I considered myself a healthy, vibrant, fit, active 50-something-year-old when the delta variant attacked my body on Friday the 13th of 2021 sending me to the hospital. Four days later, I was released to convalesce at home with supplemental oxygen. I finally turned a corner at week six.
Four weeks after that, I endured the trauma of rapid hair loss, losing 80 percent of my long, luscious locks over the ensuing 12-week period. Then, just as the great shed was abating in mid-January 2022, crippling symptoms of long covid began to emerge. Brain fog, debilitating fatigue, and excruciating migraines were my main issues. I’m still dealing with a measure of these conditions today, 16 months later.
Early on, when I started to regain my strength, fierce anger arose at what was taken from me as well as the millions of others who also suffered losses of good health and livelihoods. After that, my heart moved into mourning for those who lost loved ones unnecessarily through this evil unleashed upon us. Knowing I needed to use my anger for good and not let it ruin me, I turned to my source of hope, life, and truth—Jesus.
First thing Jesus told me through my prayer time was to forgive those who wronged me. Forgive the doctors who denied me certain medicines when I asked for them, drugs that would have killed that virus right away instead of letting it linger in my lungs long-term. Forgive the evil-minded scientists, doctors, and financiers who conspired to create a bioweapon designed to depopulate the planet. Jesus told me to go one step further and pray for these people’s souls; pray that they realize their wrongdoings, would repent of their sins, and then turn their hearts over to Jesus so they won’t spend eternity to hell. The Bible is very clear that those who don’t repent of their sins and then declare Jesus as their savior will not be allowed through the gates of Heaven. If not Heaven, then hell. And it’s God’s will that none should perish. So, out of obedience to God’s Word, I align myself with His will in this area.
I say obedience because all this forgiveness business is hard to do. It still is. I can’t wait for my heart to “feel” like forgiving as it likely will never get there. So, don’t feel bad if you’ve tried to forgive someone and you can’t. It’s impossible without the presence of God in our lives. We are not wired to easily turn the other cheek. The one and only way to forgive those who hurt us and unjustly treat us is to have the presence of the Holy Spirit, God’s spirit, living inside our hearts helping us. In the flesh, we are weak to forgive.
Through lots of time in prayer communing with the Holy Spirit, I was able to get to a place where my heart was humbled enough to forge the forgiveness footpath knowing God asks me to do this. Can I tell you how freeing it was?! Once I released that burden,
I could move on knowing God could take it from here. If there is punishment for the perpetrators’ misdeeds, God will handle it. He promises me He will when He declares in Romans 12:19: “Never take revenge. Leave it to God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord.” In fact, there are a ton of Bible verses where God promises he will deal with the evil ones. Go find a Bible and read Psalms 73 if you need some encouragement.
Knowing there is a divine plan at work when it comes to justice releases me from the burden of being right or seeking judgment against people I likely will never encounter again. I live with an eternal mindset. I have to! Because the burden to be right and the desire for things to be fair on this earth is just too heavy of a weight for my soul to carry. I’m thankful Jesus told me He will carry it for me if I hand it over to Him. If you are struggling to forgive someone, please reach out via my website and I can pray with you. I love you.
Genevieve Schmitt is an award-winning journalist who started her career in television news, then transitioned to the entertainment, and then motorcycling industries. She can be found at GenevieveSchmitt.com.