Have you ever made such a colossal mistake you thought, “THIS is one booboo even God can’t fix!”? I recently erroneously e-mailed the wrong document to a very important person. Oops! Huge mistake and repercussions! When it hit me I freaked out, prayed for a “take it back!” button, tried not to say bad words, and almost threw up.
Whether a deliberate choice that backfires, or an unintentional error, we ALL make mistakes. We beat ourselves up for being human and we panic about the messes we’ve made. CAN God fix them and DOES He?
I take great comfort in the promise that says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NASB)
It’s taken me years to notice what Romans 8:28 does NOT say:
And we know that God (not me) causes (not by chance) all things (not just some things) to work together for good (not necessarily for us to always FEEL good about it) to those who love God, to those who are called (not for everyone but for followers of Jesus) according to His purpose (not so we can have everything the way we want right now, but ultimately for the big picture.)
And more good news is that not only can we apply this supernatural treasure to our own mistakes, we can also use it in our lives when OTHER people do something wrong toward us. (Hmmm. That’s a little harder.)
In fact, it’s a bit ironic that the massively blatant “mistake” of crucifying the Son of God turned out to be our ultimate blessing, all in line with God’s eternal purpose, resulting in good for us and glory for Him.
Although we may never see the “good” that God has worked in every situation, we can rest assured that He loves us, and that He knows what is best for us, and that He is capable of carrying that out in His time and His way.
So let’s relax more, do our best, and let Him make the most of it…mistakes and all. 🙂
