Do you think God had a plan for you and you missed it? Let me assure you that God is bigger than your mistakes.
The children of Israel refused to go into the Promised Land. They really messed up God’s plan. God used the extra time in the desert to teach them how to trust Him.
Once they were in Canaan, they continued to make mistakes. God’s response? God didn’t change his plan, He just delayed and/or worked their mistakes into His plan.
God worked with the People of Israel until they were ready to do what they were called to do. He molded and shaped them, reworked their understanding of Him and themselves, until they were ready to walk into the Promised Land.
What should you do if you really messed up?
- Trust God. God called you to be in relationship with Him. He is bigger than any mistake you can make. Take some time, get alone with Him and talk it out. You need to make your relationship right with Him before you do anything else.
- Look for God’s guidance. The Holy Spirit’s job is to teach, convict, correct, guide & empower. God will help you through this. You might need new skills – consider that your hard times might be training so that you can develop new skills and strengthen your faith.
- Pay attention to what “is” instead of what “isn’t”. It is easy to see what you lack. Instead, look for what God IS doing. He is working, and He has a purpose for your life.
- Find someone to encourage. When you mess up, it is tempting to crawl in a hole. Instead, continue to be the person God has called you to be.
If you want to fulfill the purpose He created you for, He will make a way. He is the master of work-arounds and new plans. He turns mistakes into new victories. If you are missing a support beam or two, He will build you a new one.
4 Responses
Yes, I feel like James at this point in my life. I made such bad decisions regarding my health which unlike James cannot be reversed. I underwent an operation (not God’s will) which put my health at stake. I leaned on my own understanding and did not trust Him fully as stated in Prov5. My situation is quite complicated and I am wondering if something good can still come out of it. I cannot reverse this like a buying or selling of a house. Asked forgiveness and trust the Holy Spirit to guide me now on the way forward.
Alta, thanks for posting. Romans says that God works ALL things for the good off those who love Him and are called according to this purpose. Even when we try to do things our own way and suffer natural consequences, He uses those situations to help us grow deeper in relationship with Him, know ourselves better, or be able to see the pitfalls of leaning on our own understanding better. Here’s the important part (not that all that wasn’t important, but this is critical): God is not surprised or shocked. He knows us from the inside out and He knows what it will take to help us be the people we were created to be in the places He has put us. We don’t shock Him when we fail/fall/sin. We are learning to walk in constant relationship with Him , and like a toddler learning to walk, we will topple over into our own understanding from time to time. God is right there, ready to help us learn and move forward. What has He been teaching you through this difficult situation?
Hi Deep Imprints,
What if the situation was screaming at you and you still mess it up…. I recently had a chance to accept an amazing offer someone made on our family house and I really felt like God was giving me all the signs to sell. This is because at the moment my mother is completely dependent on me as she doesn’t drive and our house is in the middle of the country side, which means my life has been kinda put on hold for the past few years and I feel that is holding me back from doing the work God has put in my heart. I ended up not accepting the offer because my sister was freaking out about losing our family home and also I met this woman on the street who somehow convinced me that I would need this house in the country in the very ‘end days’…..she was a Christian obviously, but so am I and I had thought about that whole issue but still felt like God was telling me to sell. I has also spoken to people at my church and they said that it would be better for everyone in my family to sell…. I ended up getting confused and waited too long to decide and as a result we missed this AMAZING offer, like 30% more than we were asking for originally…amazing, especially considering the state of the UK economy right now. A few days later my family suddenly changed their mind and decided ‘actually we think we should sell’ at which point I knew that I had been right all along and had been correctly reading God’s signs, but by then it was too late and we had lost an incredible opportunity. I really feel like God is shaking His head right now saying to me ‘oh son, if only you had been more single minded and had more faith in what I was telling you!’ Now we have to start from scratch all over again trying to sell the house, which could take months!
I feel really discouraged now and am constantly really angry at myself for letting other people sway my opinion from what I felt God was telling me to do. I also feel like I have let God down with my lack of faith in what He was telling me. I also feel like I ‘couldn’t hear the Masters voice’ clearly, which makes me doubt if I am really one of his own.
Please give me some words of encouragement.
Thank you.
God bless
James, thank you for your note. You know, God is still God. If He brought the first offer, He can bring another. In fact, I can see how it might be possible that the first offer worked as a catalyst to get the whole family on the same page so that you will be ready for the next offer. You don’t live in a vacuum, and it is important to walk in community. Your community wasn’t ready, but the offer provided them with the opportunity to think it through. Now they are ready. Sometimes what we see as a crumbling wall is God putting together the pieces for something better. The children of Israel thought they’d made a bad decision when they ended up in the desert without water. Their focus on “their choice” caused them to only see the negative and not look for God’s provision. God is in control. He will provide for you and your family. I will be praying for a dynamic engagement and a new excellent offer.