Single Matters Magazine with Jill Monaco Ministries Christian singles discuss the matters of life, relationships, singleness and faith
What if our greatest mistakes in life lead to our most abundant blessings?
Major screw-up = amazing outcome.
Wouldn’t that be awesome?
We have all experienced God’s redemptive power upon accepting Him as Lord of our lives. But it doesn’t stop there. God can and will redeem and bring greatness from our mistakes when we submit them to Him and let Him have His way.
There’s a story in Genesis that’s really hard to read. After Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Lot and his two daughters fled to a cave in the mountains. His daughters feared they would never marry, so the oldest daughter concocted a plan. Chapter 19:31 (NLT), “There isn’t a man anywhere in this entire area for us to marry. And our father will soon be too old to have children. Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will sleep with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.”
And so they did.
Gross.
They both conceived and bore sons, Moab and Ben-ammi, who became the ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, enemies of Israel.
Enter God’s redemption as we fast forward to the story of Ruth.
Ruth was a Moabite who married an Israelite. This means her Israeli husband went against the command of God and married one of the enemies of Israel (See Deuteronomy 7). Ruth’s husband died, and instead of returning to her own people, she traveled back to the land of Israel with her mother-in-law, Naomi. There she married Boaz and bore children. She became the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of Jesus.
So from incest, came a faithful woman, two forbidden marriages, then a great king, and finally the King of kings.
God redeemed immorality through the generations and used Ruth to bring about the lineage of Jesus.
Isn’t God amazing? When He redeems, He does it in a big way!
How about adultery and murder? Does God redeem that also?
King David’s is one of the most famous “failure” stories of the Bible. He was a faithful king, anointed by God Himself. He was also an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11). He slept with another man’s wife and then had that man murdered. From the affair came a baby, but the sad consequence of David’s actions was the death of that baby. The whole episode caused great heartache for many. However, David repented, and soon Bathsheba conceived again and bore Solomon, who became the next king of Israel.
From David’s greatest failure came the wisest man to ever live. And God loved and blessed Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24).
That’s redemption.
When Adam and Eve traded life for death in the garden, God didn’t toss out the whole plan for mankind; He formulated a plan to redeem. He gave us a Savior. He calls us back to Himself and waits for us to return so He can act on our behalf.
God is never happy about sin because it hurts us and our relationship with Him. But it doesn’t freak Him out. When we mess up, He doesn’t shake His head, roll His eyes and stomp His foot — He goes into redemption mode.
I cry out to God without holding back. Oh, that God would listen to me. When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I pray with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading. There can be no joy for me until He acts. — Psalm 77:1-2 (NLT)
Run to God in your failure. Trust me, He’s listening and waiting to be found. In our desperate need, there is no comfort like the comfort we receive from God Himself. There is such greatness in this! When we are at our lowest, God is at His best. Whether we have messed up, been messed around or mistreated, or life just turned out wrong … when we run to God, He brings comfort and redemption, peace and joy.
I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. — Philippians 3:13 (NLT)
If you are wallowing today in a pit of your past mistakes, I encourage you to take heart. Pick yourself up, along with your mistakes, and lay all at the feet of Jesus. He will receive you, love you, and redeem it all.
Whether it’s spiritual, relational or financial; whether a need, mistake or wrong choice — God is ready and waiting to make things right. He starts in your heart and unfolds from there.
Stay with Him on this process. It can be a long one, but the end result — the amazing blessings awaiting you — are more than worth it!
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