God Redeems Our Mistakes… Christine McDonald
Pain is a pesky part of being human. I’ve learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart, something I wish we could all do without, in our lives here. Pain is a sudden hurt that can’t be escaped. But then I have also learned that because of pain, I can feel the beauty, tenderness, and freedom of healing. Pain feels like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against your face when you are spreading your wings and flying through the air! We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces. —C. JoyBell C.
One of the most quoted verses in Scripture also happens to be one of the most profound—and one that often makes no sense to us. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT)
Do you realize what this means? It means that your mistakes, your failures, your wins, and your successes all work together for your good and according to the Lord’s purposes for you. When you look back over the span of your life, I’m sure you can think of several moments you would love to hide from memory (yours and God’s). Yet these moments—yes, even the ones when we are sinning against Him—are all usable once we surrender to Him.
He is the master Creator who takes all of our moments and uses them as the raw material to build a work of art in you that you never could have imagined. While He doesn’t rejoice in our wrongdoings, once we have washed ourselves in His cleansing love and accepted Him as our Lord, every breath we have ever breathed becomes His.
A perfect example can be found in the story of Joseph of the Old Testament. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of their own jealousy and then lied to their father about it. Many years later, when the brothers found themselves begging for food in Egypt, they discovered that Joseph was now second in charge of all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. They feared what Joseph might do to them, expecting him to have a grudge toward them.
Joseph’s wisdom, however, was not what they expected. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19–20, NIV)
God redeems our mistakes and the mistakes of others against us. It is not our place to hold those past choices and circumstances against who we are today or who we will be tomorrow. Nor is it our place to hold them against others. Perhaps, instead, we should look on one another with as much wisdom and grace as Joseph had for his brothers, recognizing that God is infinitely greater than all our wrongdoings, and that He can make princes out of slaves.
Contact Information:
Christine C. McDonald
636-487-8986
Christine.CryPurple@gmail.com
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
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