A
thought by John Ortberg (2016-05-01) from his book, What Is God's Will for My Life? (p. 17). Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click
on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
That’s the
truth isn’t it? We are many times afraid to take the responsibility.
But John
says, “God isn’t in the business of rejecting people who make wrong choices;
he’s in the business of redeeming them. If only people who made correct choices
were used by God, the Bible would be a much shorter book, and Jesus would be
the only character. The real question isn’t about if I make a wrong decision;
it’s about when I make a wrong decision. And the answer is that as soon as I
surrender my will, God will recalculate my route and welcome me home. If you’re
not dead, you’re not done.”
He goes on, “Jesus
told many stories about people who made wrong choices. One is about a character
who has become known as the Prodigal Son. He chooses to leave his home, waste
his inheritance, and dishonor his father. But when he comes to his senses, he
is ready for guidance. ‘Recalculating route. Execute a U-turn.’ He assumes that
he’ll be stuck with plan B for the rest of his life — ‘I don’t deserve to be
treated like a son anymore; I’ll just live from now on as a hired hand’ —
but his father has no intention of letting him settle for a plan B. All of our
choices have consequences. For the Prodigal Son, he will never have the time he
spent wallowing with pigs back. But that doesn’t mean he’s stuck with plan B.
He just has a new plan A. God specializes in improvisation. He loves to throw
parties for prodigals who come home.”
John then
says, “Sometimes we may make a choice in good faith, and it just turns out
badly. We take a job at a company that goes bankrupt or buy a car that turns
out to be a lemon. We may feel foolish or guilty, but God doesn’t expect
anybody but him to be omniscient. The psalmist says that God ‘remembers that we
are dust’ (Psalm 103: 14). And dust — even relatively educated dust — is pretty
fallible when it comes to choosing.”
John said earlier, “God’s will for us is that we become persons of excellent character — and one of the primary tools for building excellent character is decision making. If people never go through the challenge and anxiety and responsibility of decision making, their growth will be stunted.”
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