The Forgiving and Life-Restoring God


Ever heard of Katyn Woods?

As the year 2010 was ending, the Russian government finally provided an answer to a puzzling situation remaining from World War II. The puzzle was: what really happened at Katyn Woods, Russia (an area near Smolensk)? The grisly truth showed the true character of the dictator, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was guilty of many crimes, but Katyn Woods was exceptional.

In 1939, Stalin and Adolf Hitler had their respective representatives sign a non-aggression pact. Part of the pact involved the partition of Poland. That is, Germany would invade, the Soviet Union would not intervene and then the two countries would partition Poland, half going to Germany and the other half to the Soviet Union. Nice little agreement between the two monsters, wasn’t it? Following the defeat of Poland by the German forces, the Soviet Union sent in an army to “stabilize” the region. It was stabilized all right. Stalin, who earlier had had his best generals executed – he feared them – now had the Soviet army round up the top Polish military minds. Thousands of Polish military officers were taken to Katyn Woods, where on March 5, 1940 Stalin himself gave the order that they should be shot. They were – and then buried in a mass grave. This mass grave was later discovered by the German army and exposed to the world.

But for decades scholars have wondered who was responsible. As time progressed, the Polish people became more suspicious that the Soviets were responsible for the needless slaughter of their fathers, brothers and sons.

The Russian Duma (the legislative body), in a gesture intended to resolve the tension and mistrust that has existed between itself and the Poles since 1940, provided information from its archives proving Russian responsibility for what happened at Katyn Woods. Russian propagandists had for years attempted to blame the Germans for the massacre, but finally had to admit culpability.

This episode, sordid as it is, does remind me of an important scripture: Numbers 32:23 – “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

The practice of sin will most certainly manifest itself – it is just a matter of time. The effects are not only witnessed in a person’s life, but also manifested in his personality. Matthew Henry, a Bible commentator from an earlier era, has written for every era these words: “Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us now to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, and forsake them, lest they find us out to our ruin.”

Listen, my friend, you cannot get away with wrongdoing. It will catch up with you sooner or later. The time to turn away from such practice is now. Need help doing it? Then seek the presence and power of God in your life.

The announcement from the Russian Duma concerning Katyn Woods helps to write the history books correctly. The sin of the Soviet government, carefully hidden for sixty – five years, has now been found out.

Your sins will be found out, too. Turn from them now, and turn to the forgiving and life-restoring God.