Time After Time

I am so excited to introduce to you my sweet friend from WAAAAY up north in Canada, Karla Lees! Karla’s heartbeats the same as mine… to draw people into the presence of God and watch Him rearrange their lives for the better! I love reading her blog over at Hope In His Presence. She is so authentic and draws you in post after post. Please share your love with Karla and leave her a comment! 

“Oops, I did it again.”

There are some mistakes we do by accident, when we are not focusing on what we are doing. Other mistakes occur as we try a new task or skill, and are expected as a part of the learning curve.

There are also those we do deliberately: wielding our tongues as a weapon when all we can see is the red of our anger; ignoring an inconveniently timed cry for help; impulsively spending a large pay check the week before a big bill is due as we don’t want to wait; refusing to spend quality time with God because we are content to let things stay the same, letting fear control us instead.

Time after time, we all make mistakes.

Whatever you may have done, by accident or on purpose, time after time, God is waiting.

We tend to not immediately go to Him when we know we made a mistake, but we try to hide like Adam & Eve in the garden, shifting the blame towards anyone but ourselves. Layer upon layer, the lies we tell ourselves hinder us from the very One who wants to help us. And we know they are lies, but choose to align ourselves with the lie in the self-deception game we play.

Are you weary of running yet? I am. I know myself well enough to know this tendency in myself…to react first, versus pausing to focus and listen before I act.

Pause: take a deep breath before saying a word or responding emotionally.

Focus: pray, and ask God to make clear what He wants you to see, do, respond.

Listen: it is in the pausing & praying that we quiet ourselves to be able to hear His voice.

Act: after we have heard what to do, where to go now, or what to say, then and only then should we act?

The more we respond this way, the more it will become our first response. Instead of reacting and making the mistakes we want to avoid, putting this response into practice will benefit us over time. When we hear His voice, and follow His lead, we will become more confident. Not in our ability, but His: for it isn’t about what we have, but rather Who has us.

God has an invitation for all of us that has stood the test of time, and will echo until eternity:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

Why am I now talking about rest? How about addressing how we can fix our mistakes?
The answer is the same.

Spending time with God brings us peace, deep penetrating peace that reaches right down into our very core. As we spend time with Him, we realize He is all about Grace. Mercy, Love. When you are near the one you love, you tend to want to be on your best behavior, and keep things right between you. Being in God’s presence, you begin to understand He who He is and how He wants the best for you. You will want to be free of the behaviors that cause you to do the things you don’t want to, because you want to be more like the person you become when you are around God, all the time.

God has His hands wide open. He wants us to come to Him first, and take His offered hand to help us through whatever it is we are dealing with. With His help, we can avoid many of the pitfalls and mistakes we might otherwise encounter.

The Bible is filled with true life stories about people who made mistakes of all sizes, and how God ended up mightily using them any way, despite their past wrongs. The common denominator? They held on to God. Not to their money, skills, rank or education. They repented when they did wrong, and asked God to help them. Samson, David and Paul are just a few examples of God radically turning lives around.

Time after time, God’s invitation rings out: “Come.”

It’s time to get to know the One who wants to keep you close all the way through your life.

And those mistakes you have been burying, afraid to bring them out into the light? Once you give them to Him, and admit what you have done? He forgives and forgets about them. Seriously. They are completely erased from your rap sheet, as if they had never been recorded in the first place:

“as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

So even if you do the same mistake again, He will forgive you, again, as He did the first time. Because in God’s record keeping, it is the first time you have made that mistake:
“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 (ESV)

Time after time.

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