I am not sure at what point in life we reach
the moment where we begin to look back and
cringe at the mistakes we made. The foolish
choice. The ill-spoken word. The rash action.
The reckless response. The poorly considered
deed. The thoughtless assessment that led to
reckless behavior. That instant—or those
instants—in which we struck back at something
or at someone, and realized later (possibly
much later) that what we did was absolutely
wrong. I know that parents carry this in their
hearts as we look back on decisions that we
made that were reactive and hasty and flat-out
wrong. Human beings in general carry this in
their hearts, bemoaning and bewailing the
reality that we each have bungled, and probably
many times over. We have each failed, at least
at some point in our lives. Personally, I do not
dwell on the memories of my deficits. But
occasionally my brain recalls my past lapses,
and it triggers recoil. Ugh.
Life is awash with choices. Many are small
and, on balance, immaterial. Some, however,
are weighty and far-reaching. It is typically the
latter that have the capacity to keep us awake at
night—to suddenly ruin what might have
otherwise been a good day.
Not all choices are ours to make, however.
There are many things in this world that have
already been declared by the great and holy
God whom we serve. For example, God devised
a plan for our salvation. That is not ours to alter
or to reinvent. God has already made his plan.
Also, despite what humanity might otherwise
believe, God decided long ago for each of us
the time and purpose we have on this earth.
God also has arranged in advance the good
works that we should do. The choice we have is
not to determine whether or not we do good.
Instead, the choice is to live in the plan that God
long ago made for his people. –Ricky
