WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE MISTAKE?

What Happens after the Mistake?

The Bible is filled with accounts of people who made mistakes, realized it only after the fact and then repented. From Eve listening to the serpent, eating the forbidden fruit and sharing it with her husband, Adam, and their eventual banishment from Eden, we have Samson telling Delilah the source of his strength, and then being defeated by the Philistines, who dug out his eyes and made him a slave. 

Who can forget that momentous decision of David to enter into an adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and then setting a murderous trap for her spouse, Uriah?

It’s all there for us to read, to learn, to warn us away from committing sometimes fatal errors. But we are human beings, and making mistakes is part of our sinful nature inherited from our first parents.

But what happens after I make a mistake? What does God have to say?

We read in Romans 5:20 (New Living Translation):

"God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace (undeserved favour)became more abundant."

When I realize that I have committed a grave error, part of me feels like God is just waiting to call me out. I feel like there’s this big judgment that is going to fall upon me, because I could imagine God saying, “I told you so!”

But God’s gracious love and endearing grace reaches me wherever I am. We are called to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. Of course, the enemy just waits to regale us with condemnation, and even though we are forgiven, the sting of regret still hurts.

When we make a mistake, big or small, God gives us support in any situation we have caused. The consequences of some mistakes are short lived, but some can be lifelong. Some mistakes have consequences we cannot avoid, that is true. 

But God’s grace is outpoured in every event. Our enemy will try to make things worse, but our Saviour embraces us.

Christ calls us to forgiveness, healing, comfort and wholeness in the midst of sometimes obvious sadness, and He does make a way in the middle of the tears of regret.