No Regrets
Last week one of my wonderful friends emailed me a question. I responded pretty quickly but kept thinking about it all day. I woke up the next morning with words from a song (that I don't know or I would tell you what song/artist) that said something about how God made much of man so man could make much of God. My heart tied those words into my friend's question. I can't remember exactly how she asked it, but the question was something like this: If God can work good in any situation, did I mess up in my recent situation - could I have 'bucked up' and tried harder and done more on my own and had a better outcome? My friend was looking back, feeling like she had messed up or failed and like she could have done more and then God could have worked a lot of good. Somehow she felt that her falling short had limited His purposes.
Romans 8 says this: 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. He makes much of us so we can make much of Him.
Even when we fall short, fail, screw up, mess up, get lazy, etc., He is still working good - the scripture says 'in all things' He is working for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So what is His purpose? Verse 29 says it is to conform us to the likeness of His son. He chose us. He called us. He justified us. And He glorified us - made us like His very Son - like Jesus Christ. Now THAT is some good work. And it is a continuing process until the day we are completed - when this body and flesh are no longer and we are with Him in eternity. So in this life, our flesh jumps in to every situation while He is working in us to make us Christlike and we end up with regrets. But God has no regrets. He chose us. He called us. He justified us. He glorified us.
So in my friend's situation, and most of my own, even when I screw up God is working in the middle of it to teach, to develop, to train so that I can be more Christ-like because of it. Oh, Father, keep my heart tender, my ears listening and my eyes watching to see what You are doing so I can surrender to it and enter into it. When I am receptive, even though in the midst of a big 'mess up', I can see how He is working in me to grow patience or kindness or self-control or humility. It is like Jeremiah said - I am the clay and He is the potter. I need to just relax and let Him mold me instead of becoming so proud and presumptuous as to say "I have failed and therefore God cannot complete His purposes in this situation." True, God might have been more glorified before men or more kingdom work accomplished if I had already been more Christ-like in the situation, but He has no regrets. He didn't fail. He wasn't limited. He knew ahead of time what I would chose to do and how He would use it to mold my little clay self into a more beautiful and glorious reflection of His Son. He makes much of me so I can make much of Him.
As I was thinking about this, He brought Peter to mind. Remember Peter? Jesus told Peter that he would deny knowing Him 3 times before the morning and Peter said NO WAY. Then Peter denied knowing Him 3 times before the morning. YES WAY. What good was Father doing in this situation? How could it have possibly been good for Peter to deny Jesus at the hour of His greatest need? And thinking kind of inside-out, what bad came of it? How did history change for the worse because of what Peter did? Did his denial put Jesus in a worse situation? Did it add nails to His hands and feet? Did it get Him crucified quicker? Peter certainly felt anguish, regret, condemnation, failure. Yet somehow it was working good - making Him more Christ-like - and Jesus Christ knew it was going to happen before it happened and loved Peter anyway.
Peter probably cried for days over his failure. Yet Jesus was still his friend and Lord and met him in the garden after His resurrection. And Peter was still part of the 'inner circle'. And Jesus let Peter redeem his 3 denials with 3 declarations of love. And Jesus told him that his love for God and the people God would choose for His own would be the foundation for the Church. And Peter got to preach the very first evangelical sermon of the Church Age as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And he saw thousands being saved. And he became a missionary who changed the world. And he was so blessed and used by Father God that people could be healed just by passing through his shadow. I think that Peter was a much more Christ-like and powerful tool for the kingdom because he had that denial experience.
Humor me for a minute as I imagine what Peter might have been like without the denial experience. First, what if Peter had said, "Yes, I am with Jesus and will defend Him to the death!" Peter probably would have been arrested and imprisoned if not crucified as well. No declarations of love. No foundation for the Church. No sermon at Pentacost... Or, what if he had not denied, had survived, and then stood pridefully before the other disciples (and then Jesus) and said, "I didn't deny you! I did it! See how strong I was? Build the Church on me! I ROCK!" I wonder if that is the kind of man Father would choose to use in a powerful way.
Peter was, by nature, a proud man with much personal strength and determination. That had to be 'broken' by the denial failure - the flesh stripped away - to make Peter more like Jesus Christ so that he could be used fully for kingdom purposes. Because he had denied Jesus, Peter became a man who would do anything for Jesus and he did. He preached boldly. He went to prison. He performed miracles. He wrote. He loved. He lived with a reminder - not a regret - of how Father had worked in Him for good and that carried him to a martyr's death for his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sure, our failure is a detriment to ourselves and to others and continuing in sin and failure before Father is harmful in many ways. But Father God, in His infinite wisdom and amazing love, uses our failure and sin to strip away our flesh and reveal more of Christ when we love Him are running after Him. Look back, friends, and take note of what you did or failed to do. But don't regret or think that your own striving to do better could have made a better outcome. Instead, thank Him for what He did to work good in you, making you more like His Son so that in the future you can be used even more for the kingdom.
He is in the garden waiting for you. You are still His favorite. Your love for Him and His people and purposes are the rock on which He is building amazing eternal things. He sees such great success in how He has glorified you. He has no regrets.
Amy
Romans 8 says this: 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. He makes much of us so we can make much of Him.
Even when we fall short, fail, screw up, mess up, get lazy, etc., He is still working good - the scripture says 'in all things' He is working for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So what is His purpose? Verse 29 says it is to conform us to the likeness of His son. He chose us. He called us. He justified us. And He glorified us - made us like His very Son - like Jesus Christ. Now THAT is some good work. And it is a continuing process until the day we are completed - when this body and flesh are no longer and we are with Him in eternity. So in this life, our flesh jumps in to every situation while He is working in us to make us Christlike and we end up with regrets. But God has no regrets. He chose us. He called us. He justified us. He glorified us.
So in my friend's situation, and most of my own, even when I screw up God is working in the middle of it to teach, to develop, to train so that I can be more Christ-like because of it. Oh, Father, keep my heart tender, my ears listening and my eyes watching to see what You are doing so I can surrender to it and enter into it. When I am receptive, even though in the midst of a big 'mess up', I can see how He is working in me to grow patience or kindness or self-control or humility. It is like Jeremiah said - I am the clay and He is the potter. I need to just relax and let Him mold me instead of becoming so proud and presumptuous as to say "I have failed and therefore God cannot complete His purposes in this situation." True, God might have been more glorified before men or more kingdom work accomplished if I had already been more Christ-like in the situation, but He has no regrets. He didn't fail. He wasn't limited. He knew ahead of time what I would chose to do and how He would use it to mold my little clay self into a more beautiful and glorious reflection of His Son. He makes much of me so I can make much of Him.
As I was thinking about this, He brought Peter to mind. Remember Peter? Jesus told Peter that he would deny knowing Him 3 times before the morning and Peter said NO WAY. Then Peter denied knowing Him 3 times before the morning. YES WAY. What good was Father doing in this situation? How could it have possibly been good for Peter to deny Jesus at the hour of His greatest need? And thinking kind of inside-out, what bad came of it? How did history change for the worse because of what Peter did? Did his denial put Jesus in a worse situation? Did it add nails to His hands and feet? Did it get Him crucified quicker? Peter certainly felt anguish, regret, condemnation, failure. Yet somehow it was working good - making Him more Christ-like - and Jesus Christ knew it was going to happen before it happened and loved Peter anyway.
Peter probably cried for days over his failure. Yet Jesus was still his friend and Lord and met him in the garden after His resurrection. And Peter was still part of the 'inner circle'. And Jesus let Peter redeem his 3 denials with 3 declarations of love. And Jesus told him that his love for God and the people God would choose for His own would be the foundation for the Church. And Peter got to preach the very first evangelical sermon of the Church Age as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And he saw thousands being saved. And he became a missionary who changed the world. And he was so blessed and used by Father God that people could be healed just by passing through his shadow. I think that Peter was a much more Christ-like and powerful tool for the kingdom because he had that denial experience.
Humor me for a minute as I imagine what Peter might have been like without the denial experience. First, what if Peter had said, "Yes, I am with Jesus and will defend Him to the death!" Peter probably would have been arrested and imprisoned if not crucified as well. No declarations of love. No foundation for the Church. No sermon at Pentacost... Or, what if he had not denied, had survived, and then stood pridefully before the other disciples (and then Jesus) and said, "I didn't deny you! I did it! See how strong I was? Build the Church on me! I ROCK!" I wonder if that is the kind of man Father would choose to use in a powerful way.
Peter was, by nature, a proud man with much personal strength and determination. That had to be 'broken' by the denial failure - the flesh stripped away - to make Peter more like Jesus Christ so that he could be used fully for kingdom purposes. Because he had denied Jesus, Peter became a man who would do anything for Jesus and he did. He preached boldly. He went to prison. He performed miracles. He wrote. He loved. He lived with a reminder - not a regret - of how Father had worked in Him for good and that carried him to a martyr's death for his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sure, our failure is a detriment to ourselves and to others and continuing in sin and failure before Father is harmful in many ways. But Father God, in His infinite wisdom and amazing love, uses our failure and sin to strip away our flesh and reveal more of Christ when we love Him are running after Him. Look back, friends, and take note of what you did or failed to do. But don't regret or think that your own striving to do better could have made a better outcome. Instead, thank Him for what He did to work good in you, making you more like His Son so that in the future you can be used even more for the kingdom.
He is in the garden waiting for you. You are still His favorite. Your love for Him and His people and purposes are the rock on which He is building amazing eternal things. He sees such great success in how He has glorified you. He has no regrets.
Amy
You're my favorite.
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And you are mine.
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