Friday, May 28, 2010

Sometimes Altered Paths Are Better

"Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?" -- Psalm 77:7

Are we doomed to pay for our mistakes forever? Will God forever keep His favor from being upon our lives? How many times have all us uttered those questions? We make mistakes. We know God forgives us. We wish the effects of our sin would just go away.

Of course, it doesn't. All of us must bear the consequences of our actions. He does lighten our load because He is there with us. We are never alone. But we do in many ways pay for our mistakes while we are on this earth.

So do we ever reach a point where the sins of our past are truly in the past? I don't know. I think that's part of the 12-step program. Apologizing. Trying to make amends. Going forward with forgiveness from God and self and taking a different path in the present and future.

Is that enough? Can it ever be enough? Others bear scars that we inflicted. The course of our lives are altered by the mistakes of the past. We can't go back and choose a different road. But maybe we can find an alternate route to the destination first in our sights. Maybe the scenic route, while certainly filled with turmoil and anguish, was the better path after all.

We are who we are today because of where we've been. It is our failures and mistakes that mold us into the people God can use today. It is in our broken lives that God's light truly shines through.