My 70x7 Testimony

From Hurt to Healing

Over the past few weeks, my homecell group has been going through Bruce Wilkinson’s 70x7 course on forgiveness. I didn’t realise at the time just how personal this journey would become for me.

In session 4, we were asked to write down the names of those we needed to forgive.
At first, a few names began to surface in my mind, one after the other, but there was one that carried more weight than the rest. Someone I deeply cared about and loved, but who had hurt me, not once, not twice, but three times. Each time, it was in the same way.
Each time, it cut deeply.

At first, I thought I had already forgiven everyone. I believed I had dealt with the past and moved on, that there was nothing left to revisit, but as I sat in that moment, names slowly began to come to mind.

This is when it became clear. There was one name I couldn’t ignore. I was caught off guard because I truly thought I had already forgiven her… that I had even forgotten, but clearly, something in my heart was still holding on.

I remember feeling stuck. I didn’t know how to move past the pain. I didn’t know how to truly forgive, but in that moment, I chose to be honest before God.

I wrote her name down and simply prayed, asking Him to help me do what I couldn’t do on my own, to help me forgive her and let go.

A few days later, something unexpected happened.

She reached out to me.

Her message was heavy. She told me she was in a dark place — that she felt depressed, like a waste of space, like she had contributed nothing meaningful to her own life. As I read her words, I felt a shift in my heart. In that moment, I knew this wasn’t a coincidence. This was a test of what I had just prayed for.

Would I hold onto my hurt or would I walk in forgiveness?

By God’s grace, I chose to be there for her.

It wasn’t easy. Everything in me remembered the pain, the lies and the hurt that had come from her before, but I also knew that forgiveness isn’t just something we say — it’s something we live out. I realised that choosing forgiveness didn’t mean ignoring what happened, but choosing to hold space for her anyway — to show up, to listen and to care, even when part of my heart still remembered the wounds.

Even in the moments where I had asked God to help me forget her completely — just so my heart could stop hurting — I still chose to act in love and be there for her. I chose to respond with kindness, with grace and with understanding. Not because it was easy, but because God had already begun changing my heart.

I didn’t have all the answers. I didn’t know what the future would look like for us, but in that moment, I knew that love sometimes looks like simply being there — even when it costs you something.

That moment stayed with me.

This journey has taught me that forgiveness isn’t about pretending we weren’t hurt.
It’s about surrendering that hurt to God and trusting Him to heal what we cannot fix ourselves.

Sometimes, forgiveness opens the door not only for someone else’s healing, but for our own as well.

Then, in a quiet and unexpected way, God reminded me of that...

Months earlier, after a particularly intense argument between us, a crested barbet that used to visit my backyard every morning suddenly disappeared. It had been such a consistent and peaceful part of my days… and then it was just gone.

However recently — after everything, after the prayer, after choosing to forgive and to show up for her — the bird came back and not just once… it has been returning every morning again, just like it used to.

To some, it might seem small, or even like coincidence, but to me, it felt deeply personal.
Like a gentle reminder from God. A picture of restoration, of peace returning after a season of hurt, of what can happen when we choose forgiveness over bitterness.

It reminded me that when we release what we’ve been holding onto, we make room for peace to return.

Sometimes, if we’re paying attention, God sends little reminders… even in the form of a bird… to show us that healing has begun.

Maybe there’s a name that’s coming to your mind as you read this.

Don’t ignore it.

If there’s someone you haven’t fully forgiven, bring their name before God today.
Be honest about the hurt, even if you don’t know how to let it go.

Just as I did, trust Him to help you take that first step toward forgiveness.

He is faithful to meet you there and to begin the healing process in ways you may not expect.
You might be surprised at what He restores.

With you on the journey,
– Storm Reagan
Life Coach | Lived Experience Guide