God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

I often write about how to follow Jesus if you’re a person who’s exhausted. And I typically begin with a quote from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, because St. Thérèse of Lisieux was brilliant at showing us how to follow The Little Way. And her little way is an extraordinarily helpful way to follow Jesus when we find ourselves exhausted.

But today I want to speak from experience.

I was recently around a group of salt-of-the-earth human beings who are very skilled at moving forward. This group of people have as their superpower the ability to move forward after receiving what I perceive to be disrespect. If you’ve ever read Brant Hansen’s excellent book Unoffendable you know what I’m talking about. These people just seemed to be immune to offense, or, if they were offended, their reaction was brief and then they moved on.

I’ve seen people demonstrate grace before, and I’ve witnessed people forgiving others before, but I have never seen this kind of rapid-fire brand of forgiveness where over and over they could move on in a conversation after receiving an affront or even multiple affronts.

I found it amazing and refreshing and inspiring and instructive. I learned a lot from those people. Their influence taught me that the way I hang onto what I perceive to be disrespectful interactions is completely unnecessary. As I was watching those people, I said to myself:

“You mean–you can just do that?”

“You mean, I don’t have to hang onto that stuff? I can just move forward like that, right away, in the moment? You mean I don’t have to bother with the bitterness and hurt and anger and resentment?”

“Yes,” I realized, “you can. You can choose to do it the way they do it. You can just move forward, like they do.”

Wow.

That was a watershed moment for me.

And the reason this ties into following Jesus for exhausted people is because unforgiveness, and the resentment and anger that come with it, are enormous obstacles in our path.

And, when we’re exhausted, the last thing we need are enormous obstacles to negotiate. Unforgiveness drains us of our emotional energy. That’s energy I can’t afford to lose.

Also, our Lord emphasized forgiveness in the Gospels and I believe one reason he did so is because it’s so much more difficult to love God well and to love people well when we’re dragging around a heavy load of unforgiveness.

The great news is, we don’t have to do that! I’ve seen it demonstrated in that group of people I mentioned.

We can just move on.

“Oh Lord, have mercy on us. We’re weak and weary, but we desire to please You and bless You. Help us to live in a way that pleases You and blesses You. Help us to forgive in ways that please You and bless You. Help us to forgive and move forward, quickly, the way those salt-of-the-earth people do.

“Help us.

“In Jesus’ name we ask.

“Amen.”

Notes

Thérèse of Lisieux, The Little Way: Reflections on the Joy of Smallness in God’s Infinite Love, Whitaker House, April 4, 2023

Brant Hansen, Unoffendable, Thomas Nelson, 2015