The mistakes we make and the unpleasant consequences that follow can be great teachers, if we let them. Making mistakes and messing up, for whatever the reason might be, is never preferred but is nonetheless part of living and growing up. It’s what comes after that is really important.
Romans 3:23 says All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means we’ve all messed up and that no one is perfect. And if we remember the very first sin ever recorded in the Bible in Genesis (that of Eve eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and then giving the fruit to her husband Adam to eat) we know that as soon as they realized their error they tried to run away and hide from God. They wanted to do anything but own up to their sin and admit their mistake.
Yet God knew right away. He came looking for them in the Garden and when He asked them what they had done they both made excuses about their behavior as neither wanted to take responsibility and admit that it was their decision to go against God.
In that very first recorded sin we have a perfect example of fallen human nature in action. We make a mistake. We want to run and hide from our mistake and do anything but admit that we were wrong. If we are caught we are apt to make excuses and not take responsibility for our actions.
Yet God’s word says in 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He if faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. God is waiting and truly wants our heartfelt confession and repentance. God’s way is for us to own up to our mistakes, face them head on and then trust Him with the outcome. Only God can defeat sin. We do not have that power in and of ourselves.
I had a recent example with this very principle and God used it to reinforce the importance of confession and repentance to me. I was on my way home from work and, as it was a nice afternoon, I decided to take the more scenic and rural route home. As I was driving along I came down a hill and around a bend and noticed a police car passing me going the other direction. As I had not been paying very close attention to my speed I looked down and saw that yes, I was speeding and yes, the police car that just passed me most certainly noticed it too.
Because of the rural area, the narrow roads and the fact that we had passed each other in a curve I had the thought that I could probably speed up, take one of the next side streets and be out of his sight by the time he could turn around. In other words, my first though was to try and avoid a ticket and to run away from my mistake. But right behind that thought came another: “No, that is not the way to do it. If he turns around and comes after me then I need to own up to it” and that is exactly what happened.
As unpleasant as getting a speeding citation was I know that in my heart it was the right thing to do. God impressed upon me very quickly that running and hiding from a mistake, even if it something that no one else would ever know about, is never in His will for me. And it is never in His will for any of His children as He wants us to trust Him with our lives, with our hearts and even with our mistakes because that is the only way that He can make us who He wants us to be.
Today, the word of the Lord that came to me is: make it right. Whatever it might be. Stop running. Don’t try to hide. Admit it to God and trust Him with the outcome. Only then can we live at peace with God and at peace with ourselves.