Oops, they did it again!
One of the hardest things we face is seeing someone we love, someone we care about, make a mistake. Whether it is a child, friend, even a parent, watching someone who is important to us go down a path that might be filled with hurt or hardship is, well, hard.
We all know that it is much easier to see the potholes in the road if we aren’t clouded with the emotion of the moment. Remember those annoying phrases our parents used? “You’ll get over this, it will only hurt for awhile.” Or “It’s for the best.” Or the worst one of all: “I knew this would happen.”
Argh!!!
But reality and life dictates that we all make our mistakes and learn from them. Oh, it would sure be nice if we could take the lessons learned by others and apply them to our lives with no qualms, no questions. It would be pure bliss if those around us that we see about to make a mistake would listen to us, then immediately say, “you’re right!” and the day would be saved.
But that isn’t the way things go, and that isn’t the way God made us. He gave us the ability to make our own decisions, both good and bad. He imbued us with a sense of right or wrong, along with a healthy dose of common sense. But He also gave us emotions that can cloud our decision-making process.
Perhaps the best advice that we can take when seeing someone we care about deeply make a life-changing misstep is to look at how our loving God handles the situation with us. He doesn’t turn His back, or thunder “I told you so!” although I’m sure there are times He would like to.
No, after we inevitably fall, He is there to pick us up, hold us in His arms, and welcome the lost sheep back to the fold. While He could easily employ a three strikes, your out rule, He chooses to base His decisions on love and acceptance. Acceptance of our weaknesses and humanness, and unconditional love for us.
It doesn’t mean He doesn’t get angry with us, disappointed in us. We break His heart. But through it all, His love conquers every bad decision.
Something to think about.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Thank you for this post. It is some wonderful that God allows us freedom of choice even though he knows some of your choices are wrong. His mercy is great.