1066AD: William the Conqueror defeats the Saxon king and the future of Britain is forever changed.
1914AD: The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire takes a wrong turn and WW1 becomes inevitable.
33AD: A Jewish teacher is crucified and raised from the dead so all people can be saved.
There are moments in time that alter the course of history. Some are big, like the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and some are small, like a driver not knowing the town he’s driving in and turning the wrong way. Like these events, our lives are made of big and small moments, and the choices we make in those moments can lead to life-changing events.
I think it’s normal to wonder what it would have been like if we’d chosen another path. I’ve had a wilder, more colorful life than my current self appreciates, and I’ve been able to chat with a couple who’ve lived a more restricted life who wonders if they’ve missed out on anything. If only we could choose our consequences in advance. If only we could know the penalty for the bad choices we are about to make. Then we could pick and choose just which things we’re willing to do and which things we aren’t willing to pay the price for. I wish I had chosen like that couple. Imagine all the pain I could have avoided!
A Gift For You
But, I did make some bad choices. It’s given me heartache that has been years in the healing, and that healing has only been possible with the Grace of God. Because in 33AD a Jewish man was willing to make all the right choices. Because Jesus was willing to obey His Father unto death on a cross, all my bad choices are gone. Wiped out of existence the second I turned to the Father and poured out my heart, crying for forgiveness.
That doesn’t mean that the consequences of those choices don’t still exist in the real world. It isn’t like my actions didn’t affect others, I still had to manage the aftereffects. But my sin was gone. My pain was gone. I cannot be hurt by it anymore, and that is a gift I wish for all of you. If you turn to God and ask, sincerely ask, for forgiveness, it will be given to you! It is promised in the Bible:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
-1 John 1:9 (KJV)
Don’t Believe The Lies
Some might read this and say, but what I have done is so bad, it cannot be forgiven. It should not be forgiven. I say to you: that is a lie. Don’t believe it. Every day, choose to believe that God is good enough, that God loves you enough, that He knew you enough to make a way for you.
The Bible is filled with heroes, and all of these heroes have something in common – they are sinners. Murderers, adulterers, liars who are redeemed by God and put to His work. It is only after we clear our hearts of the overwhelming burden of guilt that we can hear God calling us to His work. Put your fear of forgiveness aside. You don’t deserve it, I didn’t deserve it, but God wants us to be redeemed. He has plans for you, work for you to do, life for you to live to it’s fullest.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.“ -Jeremiah 29:11 (NLV)
Leave your pain, guilt, and sin behind. Leave the lie that you are not worth it behind. Instead, turn to the Lord and live in hope!
