Ollie, Ollie, All's Forgiven!

How big is God?

Have you ever been through a time when you thought God had forsaken you? When you felt as though the entire world was collapsing around you, and you were completely, utterly alone?

Ollie always thought of himself as a fairly decent man. He went to church because that's what you were supposed to do….well, he took his wife to church, anyway. And he took her out for Sunday dinner at the cafeteria after he picked her up…that ought to count for something. He'd never murdered anyone, he didn't steal, and he didn't kick his dog. If you were to ask him what he thought about God, he'd say he believed in Him all right. After all, there was that thing with the church and all. He took his WIFE for goodness sakes…wasn't that enough? And he figured he'd done his share to get into heaven. He figured God owed him at least that much. After all, he took his wife to church every WEEK, and then out to dinner. That oughta count for something!

Ollie's best friend was Leon. Leon had moved into the neighborhood in the house behind Ollie when Ollie was about 45 years old. Leon was younger, but they hit it off right away. Both of them loved to hunt and fish, and they enjoyed each other's company so much they went on fishing trips every summer. Come deer season you'd find both of them out trying to get the first buck. And then there was turkey season.

Turkeys bred on a farm are some of the stupidest birds alive. Farm-bred turkeys have been known to look up when it starts raining to see what hit them on the head, and eventually drown while they're standing there. Wild turkeys are a different story. It takes a lot of patience, the ability to stand still, and a good turkey call to bag one of these birds. Maybe that's why Ollie and Leon liked turkey hunting so much.

The years went by, and Leon's first grandchild, a boy, came along. When Leon's grandson got old enough Ollie bought him his first fishing rod, and shortly after that Grandpa Leon bought him his first .22 rifle. The boy had to practice on a truckload of tin cans, go through hunting safety classes, and be grilled by Leon and Ollie, but he was finally ready. It was turkey season, and the boy was allowed to go. He was 13 years old.

On the first day of the season, all decked out in camouflage, the three males of the species left Leon's pickup in the wee hours of the morning to get the best spots. They carried coffee, bottled water, and enough lunch for the three of them. When they got to the hunting ground, all three of them put safety vests and hats on, loaded up, and started off to find THE SPOT. Leon was in charge, and he set the boy up next to a tree and told him to stay put. He told Ollie to go east, and he'd go west. Then they'd both circle around and head back to the tree.

The boy was thirsty. It had been two hours, and no turkeys were in sight. He decided it couldn't hurt to double back to the truck, get some water, and come back to the tree. He'd be really careful so as not to scare any turkeys away, and besides, it was hot and his throat was parched. Even though he'd been told to stay put, he got up from where he was sitting and started to walk to the truck.

Ollie had been waiting for a turkey all day with no luck. He was almost asleep, leaning against the trunk of the tree he'd settled under, when he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He took a quick aim and shot.

The boy, landing on the ground, never knew what hit him.

____________________________________________________________

How big would your God be at that moment if you were Ollie? Would you be able to lean on Him, to trust Him, to know that He had a plan for your life and that this was part of it?

Ollie never has figured that part of it out.

Even though my father Leon has forgiven him, even though I've forgiven him, and even though the boy, who is my now 31-year-old son, has forgiven him, he's never been able to accept it. Not from us, and not from God. Ollie is 84 years old, and still tears up at the mention of it.

My prayer is that one day he'll be able to know just who and what God is, and how great His love and forgiveness is for every one of us. God is bigger than anything that could ever happen to us. God is so big that he willingly gave up His Son to die for the sins of all those he loves…every one of us….so that we could spend eternity with Him. He's big enough to forgive us for any sin we've ever committed…if we'll only ask.

If you've never been able to accept His forgiveness before for something in your past, why not let today be the day?

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.