On today’s Focus on the Family Broadcast we’re hearing from Laurie Coombs, who has an amazing story of forgiveness.
Luke 6:27-28 says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you” (ESV). For me, and for many of you, that verse is one of the most convicting in all of Scripture. It’s hard to live up to God’s standard in this area. In fact, without His Spirit and character enabling you, I’d say it’s impossible to achieve that depth of forgiveness.
Laurie would agree. Her parents divorced after nearly 25 years of marriage when she was 15. A few years later, her father began dating a woman who was in the process of getting a divorce.
That woman’s soon-to-be ex-husband murdered him.
In the weeks that followed, hatred for her father’s killer flooded Laurie’s heart. It consumed her and affected everything she did. But then she felt a compulsion she couldn’t shake: forgive. She didn’t want to. But she believed God was talking to her through Luke 6:27-28.
“Love your enemies.”
How do you do that in practical terms, though? Praying for Anthony, her father’s murderer, felt completely counterintuitive to everything within her. Soon she was praying, “Lord, transform Anthony so much that he not only comes to you himself, but he brings others with him as well.”
Laurie says God has answered “every single bit of that prayer.”
To hear her full story, join us for “Forgiving the Unforgiveable.” It’s one of the most astounding testimonies I’ve ever heard. I hope it will encourage you, as it did me, that God can redeem situations that are bleak and that seem hopeless. Laurie is a reminder to all of us that nothing is beyond the reach of God.
Tune in on your local radio station, online, on iTunes, via Podcast, or on our free phone app.
And, if you can, make a donation to our work here at Focus on the Family, and we’ll send you a copy of Laurie’s book Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness as our way of saying thank you for your partnership and for joining us in ministering to the family.
Your gift will also be doubled thanks to a generous summer match. That means twice the impact for your donation.
Sign up for the weekly e-newsletter
Leave a Reply