When We're Wrong
Lord, I believe with my whole heart that You are. The waters are not murky when I consider the weight of sending your son to die on the cross for me personally, a broken sinner in desperate need of redemption. The hope of heaven is crystal clear, and I thank and praise you for that. Heavenly Father, I do not doubt Your love, Your might, or Your presence.
But God, I have to admit, there’s so much that I don’t know that sometimes it brings me to my knees. So here I am, on my knees, asking you to help me see through the fog that this sinful world has sent to cloud my vision. Thy will, Lord. Amen
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”Isaiah 55:8-9
I once heard the question posed, “What does it feel like to be wrong?”
Answers, of course, varied, mostly centering on feelings of embarrassment and shame.
The speaker then pointed out that those feelings were based on the realization of being wrong. “Being wrong,” she said, “feels exactly like being right.”
And I’ve been Wile E. Coyote a few feet off the edge of the cliff before realizing it. More often than I care to admit.
I can look back now and see that I’ve been too much law and not enough gospel or too much gospel and not enough law. I’ve focused so hard on not crossing a hard line that I’ve sprinted right through fields of grey area.
I’m grateful, humbled, and beyond relieved that our great and mighty God, His ways, thoughts, and actions, do not fit in my tiny tin can of a brain.
Some days, though, I ponder the ways I’ve been wrong, the mistakes I’ve made, and beg in prayer to learn from those mistakes instead of dwelling in them. Yet, when I turn forward, I still lack the courage to take the smallest step for fear that it will, yet again, lead me off a cliff whose edge lies outside my scope of vision.
So, what then? Do I sit and search my tiny tin can for answers and courage? Fortunately, our God in His wisdom did not leave us without resources.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
We’re going to be wrong. Again and again we will fall short. Hope is not lost.
Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, it says in Hebrews 12. He has already won the race, and shines as the beacon from the right hand of the Father, instilling absolute confidence in our destination, regardless of the uncertainties that may lie in our daily paths.
Not only do we have this beacon, but we can be confident that each hardship, each lesson, each mistake has been an opportunity to learn and grow in both our faith and ability to discern His will for our lives.
Great is His faithfulness, His love for us.
“For the joy set before him,” it says in Hebrews 12. That same perfect and heavenly joy is set before us too!
Some days might still feel cloudy, and some decisions unsure. What is sure is the hope we have of heaven, the God who loves and guides us, the salvation that is already won for us, and countless opportunities to grow in wisdom and faith as we seek wise council, pray, and learn from our mistakes.
Whether by bootstraps or bunny slippers, there are steps to be taken toward our beacon that is Jesus Christ. That much is clear.