GOT 'ER COVERED

In 1975, Mike flew out to hunt sheep at Muncho Lake, British Columbia. That was back in the day before cell phones, but Mike assured me that there was nothing to worry about. "But what about bears?" I asked. He explained that a bear would not bother the hunter with the rare exception of getting between a sow and her cub, or a bear and his kill.

It was the latter.

On the last day of the hunt, Mike and his guide Billy rounded a curve on a trail and their horses reared. Sure enough, about 75 yards ahead they could see a grizzly on a kill. Mike pulled out his handy-dandy-National-Geographic-capture-the-moment camera and began snapping. Just then Ole Griz picked up their scent (bears have notoriously bad eyes and a really good smeller); the bear dropped to all fours and began crashing through the thigh-high buck brush toward them. Billy was not armed and was at the mercy of his guest's marksmanship. My husband is a very good shot, but the guide couldn't have known that for sure. Mike heard his instructions loud and clear...(expletive deleted) "get your gun, man!"

The bear was close enough that when Mike put the scope to his eye, all he could see was brown hair. He adjusted, shot, and the bear fell dead at 12 steps. Although Mike has never smoked, that day he smoked a cigarette.

Why mention this story? We have been talking at our church about forgiveness. No, the grizzly did not forgive Mike. The bear was just doing what bears do. Apparently an unsuspecting billy goat had been on the trail, rounded the same curve, and the bear landed lunch. The grizzly would have eaten his fill of the "roadkill", taken his long claws and thrown dirt up over the carcass, gone a short distance away for a nice nap, and then returned for the second course. That's life in the bear world.

But the parallel I might offer from the people world is that when we have a dead thing in our lives (like a sin that is also festering and stinky), our first inclination is also to throw something over it and cover it up. The truly self-righteous can even wrap their sin creatively in bright shiny faux righteousness. I speak with some experience here...

Back in the 80's, Mike and I ended up in counseling to "fine tune" our marriage. That meant someone FRESH needed to step in and have a look at things because we couldn't get past our fusses. I very distinctly remember when the counselor turned to me and told me I was acting as my husband's Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the counselor said I should step back from that role because there was One who could do the job much better.

That was a wet-sock-in-the-face moment, but my heart knew immediately that the counselor was right. I had usurped Mike's leadership role. And all along I covered it under the guise of "helping". But God's admonition to me...what the Scripture calls a wife to do...is to "respect your husband". If I had respected Mike and his role, I would not have assumed his position. For the first time, I saw my actions as the Lord saw them. I asked Him...and then Mike...to forgive me.

Forgiveness is costly. It involves a "letting go" of the vigilante urge. It calls for a trust in God that you CAN take Him at His Word...because naturally speaking, forgiveness seems like the polar opposite of what would feel so good to do. Mike made a grace-ful decision that day in response to my plea. It feels really good to be forgiven. And that is true coverage.

"Happy is he who has forgiveness for his wrongdoing, and whose sin is covered." Psalm 32.1 BBE