Burning Coals

Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Romans 12:20 NLT http://bible.com/116/rom.12.20.NLT

Your worst enemy sitting across from you bound up in a chair screaming profanities at you, reminding you of all the hurt they have caused you. No remorse, just vulgar nasty sneers towards you while you listen to the most demonic voice you have ever heard. Their lies spit from between their teeth reaching your skin like acid and their eyes forbid rest from their hateful stare. You are free to move anywhere in the room and yet your enemy seems to fill it with their dark presence. There is little comfort in that they are bound, and you are free. The room still feels too small and the door is far too heavy to open. The windows that are meant to bar in the rightful prisoner seem to have you both trapped in and the air is hot and almost like poison to the lungs, thick and suffocating. This enemy can see your sadness and gains energy with every hit nerve. They wiggle against the rope that binds them with almost a sick pleasure at the pain while you grow weaker on your feet trying to wait them out. Surely they will stop, surely they will get tired, but it just doesn't end. Your enemy, yet bound seems more free and more powerful than you do in that room. Even when you lash out and strike them the words that spew from their mouth make you sick and the very force of your fist isn't enough to satisfy. You realize that even a hammer or any other weapon in your hand would not bring you relief from the hurt. Even if you beat them unto their last breath and they somehow muttered an apology, it wouldn't fix anything that they have caused or done, it wouldn't bring any closer only exhaustion. You are physically tired of circling the room and your body aches from standing without rest. Finally your knees buckle and your body betrays you; you give into a pile of weak flesh, broken and exhausted onto the floor in the corner of the room. You concide to giving up and giving into a life trapped with this person and all the pain they have inflicted. Your sobs are louder than your enemies taunts and you can hear nothing but your pleas for it all to end. In that moment the door bursts open as if it were nearly just blown back and a large figure enters the room. His presence is overwhelming on its own and yet after he clears the door way more stronger figures follow. The first one comes to you picking you up, his large hands like gentle bear claws compared to yours. He lifts you up as if your were a feather from the dirty floor, he looks over you to inspect you for any damage that may be visible and looks deep into your eyes to see that which isn't. His kind eyes pierce in to say they see you. His eyes see you, nothing is lost on Him. They soften with sadness as they reach every area hidden from the outside, the places where the hurt has been hiding for so long. The taunts of the prisoner in the chair have been hushed by their awe of the now full room of giants all looking to you with care and concern. Not one even glancing upon your enemy sitting  there bound. The one who is the largest grabs hold of your shoulders and draws you close into his chest. His heartbeat close enough to your ear seems to beat the sound of your name. He wraps you with a beautiful warm blanket that instantly feels like the most perfect comforter ever made. The weight of the blanket should be heavy but instead all of the weight you notice it's peace. The door being opened has now let in a cold harsh draft and the prisoner in the chair shivers at the bitter air after their skin had been soaking with their well earned sweat. They now try to fight the ropes against their wrists with a drive to warm themselves with their hands but to no avail, and this time the grinding rope tears at their skin and rips across the open muscle of their arm. Bone begins to show and curse words begin to flow once again from their mouth, but this time not towards you but because of their pain and discomfort. The more they struggle the more they cause pain and soon fatigue starts to show. Their body weakens before you. The strong silent figures who came in behind the large man who gave you the blanket start to file out of the open door and you slowly make your way towards its bright excape. Now that you are no longer feeling so tired and weak, your eyes are now able to adjust and fix themselves onto your enemy's body which has become limp and tired. They look as yours once did and as empowering as it is to walk steady by, their breaths gasping and choking at the air make you slow your pace. And just as you step to their side to go past you hear them barely form the word, "water." You straighten your stance and pull the blanket tighter to you, trying to ignore what you've heard, but they manage to whisper it again as their head now hangs low almost in their lap. The air is cold and without your cover you would shiver but in its safety there is warmth. The prisoner, however, shakes in the cold their breath fogs the air, although the puffs become smaller and smaller as their body seems to finally become too weak to fight anymore. Their voice rasp with dryness repeats once more, "water." Now, only you, the prisoner and the large man are left in the room and the door is only footsteps away. Outside its bright beautiful daylight shines in and it's perfect air calls to your soul, you close your eyes tight and clench the blanket with a deep inhale, and as you exhale you release the blanket with one hand to reach for a small glass of water on a windows ledge. Your hand trembles and with tears fighting against your eyelids you reach out your hand toward your enemy. You turn your head away as you lift the water to their lips, they drink and once the glass is empty you leave. The large figure follows close behind you to the door and once you have safely made your way out into the waiting arms of his company he stops short of the door and instead of stepping out, he takes one step back and closes the door quickly behind you. He remains inside. Your heart races as you know He is your avernger, you know His strength and what He is capable of and yet you also know that the prisoner is no way a match even if set free from the chair and given any weapon in the world. From inside the small place you once were you can hear the chair try to shuffle across the floor, you assume your enemy is trying to move away for the largest figure it's ever seen. Not even moments later the crowd outside parts and one of the followers walk steady through with a large curved cast iron cludron of burning coals. He walks directly to the door, it opens as he approaches and he vanishes inside. The door closes and screams of panic from inside are heard. You know that your enemy deserves all that is about to happen and yet now that you are outside, safe and the fresh air fills your lungs, the screams from inside the room pound on your heart and before you even realize what you are doing, you are at the door asking your avenger to come back out with you. You are pounding against it with your fists and again all other sounds are drowned by your own cries, "I will forgive them!" You scream. "I can forgive them," you weep, tears fall and soak your face. You know in your heart that as long as your comforter is with you, your enemy will never be able to trap you again, and this is enough for you. All you need is Him. He hears your knocks, He opens the door. You peak past His figure to see the coals remaining in a pot near the corner of the room and the prisoner is weapong in fright and thanksgiving all at once. You jump into your protectors arms and He smiles as He carries you back into the full sunlight. His company follows him closing the door behind them both, leaving your enemy alone and for the timebeing they are relieved to be so. A kind hand brings you your blanket which you had dropped when you ran for the door and wrapping yourself back into its comfort, you and the group of quiet hero's begin to walk home. There is peace, and there is hope and there is forgiveness. Not because your enemy deserves the break but because you can trust your protector to protect you. You are free because you trusted the one who paid for your freedom and in doing things His way you had His full army at your side, but once you had HIM you realized He was enough. On the walk home you begin to pray for your enemy, that they won't always be in the darkness of their own lives and sin but that they will come to know this freedom that you know. You pray that the weight of their sins may bring them to call out for forgiveness and lead them to live a life in honor of Him who saves. Your mind begins to rest in knowing He will take vengeance on your behalf as you learn to trust Him more and more. While you may still struggle with the pain your enemy has caused you are overwhelmed at the healing your healer has brought, and eventually you may even grow strong enough to ask your protector to help you set your enemy free from the place you left them. You know you won't have to untie the ropes on your own, in fact you never have to set foot there again, but you can trust that your protector will send His army to do the work needing to be done and that as you walk with Him who is more than able, you have peace that is greater than any of your pain ever was. It is well.