Overcoming Mistakes
by Dustin Williams
Nobody is immune to making mistakes, except maybe my wife… Of course, I am kidding! I can hear my wife reading this out loud, stopping, and saying to me, “Why would you say that?” Mistakes, bad choices, wrong moves – we have all done them and sometimes they’re completely unintentional. However, sometimes they’re wholeheartedly intentional. After all, our sin nature didn’t just start out of nowhere. I often tell people that we don’t need to show a toddler how to throw a fit, and if you want to see where humanity began having conflict, just place “a” toy in an empty room with three toddlers. While this might seem cruel, you will definitely see raw nature at its core. Also, you might just get a taste of why Cain did what he did to his brother.
Bad decisions or “a” bad decision is one of the big reasons we get “stuck”. When you think about it, we are one bad decision away from making a mess of our lives. Before a drug addict became addicted, there was that “first” decision to take the drug. Likewise, nobody intentionally sets out to ruin their finances, but because of some bad choices, or bad investments, it just happened to snowball from there.
But here is a truth you need to know. God is in no way done with you despite the bad choices you might have made! After all, the heroes in the Bible all experienced a bad decision or two (or hundreds for that matter). They say that hindsight is 20/20, which simply means that our past is 100% un-refundable. One of the many conversations I will have in heaven will be with Adam and Eve, and like many of you reading this, I believe we will all ask the same question.
“What the heck were you thinking?”
I have always imagined the answer to be something like this, “I thought more understanding would elevate me in the eyes of the Lord.” However, the response might simply be, “I wasn’t thinking”. As a man, I am living proof that this statement is true. Most of the time, we don’t go into a bad decision with the consequences in mind. We just do what feels right, or what our flesh wants, or base choices off of other bad choices. I have heard the quote a million times in my head from Forrest Gump, “Stupid is, as stupid does,” and boy have I done some stupid stuff.
This is where God likes to show up and show off! Despite human error, corruption, and sin, God chooses the least likely people to work through. To quote one of my favorite authors, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Following Jesus has been that way for me. I have made thousands of bad decisions, but I made one incredible one – one to surrender my life to the Author and Finisher, the One who has the final word, the One who can take a jacked-up mess like me and actually use me! I love how God works and He has been doing it since the beginning. God takes us beyond our mistakes and uses us for His glory when we surrender to Him.
What decisions have you made that you wish you could push the “do-over” button for?
Can you see God working in this area of your life? If so, what has He done to help reverse the situation? We would love to hear from you. Let us know your response!
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