Last night I was looking through all the posts I’ve written this year. That’s just over 300 posts. I was trying to decide what to share for this end-of-the-year trip down memory lane. 

Should I post, The Top 5 Most Read? 

Should I post My Top 5 Favorites?

Then, this thought crossed my mind. Eileen, what if you die today? What if today turns out to be your last day on earth? What is the one post you would want people to remember you by.

As I was thinking about these questions. I decided to read Psalm 22. Today is the 22nd day of the month and I will often read the correlating chapter in the Psalms.  Psalm 22 happens to be the one  David wrote about Christ’s final moments before dying on the cross. The last verses stood out to me.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

He has done it!

Don’t you love that?  God wins!  Grace wins!

And so, here’s the post I want to share with you all today.

Grace Wins
(Originally posted 4/18/2011)

While driving into town this morning I heard this quote from Max Lucado.

One fault does not make a failure.

We have heard variations of this quote so many times in our lives and yet I think many of us have a difficult time living as if we really believe it to be true. We know God gives us His grace but claiming that grace is often hard to do. We often make the mistake of allowing our faults to define us. Our mistakes can some times make us feel stuck and can even paralyze us. We often continue on the same destructive course simply because we are afraid of choosing a different direction.But often, there comes a time in our life when we realize that our mistakes can be a powerful catalyst for change.

Mistakes are often the one thing we need in order to bring about life-changing growth and a deeper understanding of God’s love for us.

I can remember exactly where I was when I was determined to not let a season of mistakes define me. At the time, the only way my mind knew how to explain it was that I did not want my mistakes to “win”. I realized that if I did not begin seeking God’s input on my choices, if I was going to continue holding things back from Him, if I couldn’t stop playing the blame game or if I continued to wallow in self-pity, then my mistakes would win. (At least, this is how I was able to explain it to myself.) I realized that eventually, if I continued doing things the way I was doing them, my bitterness and the path I was on would destroy me. Maybe not, physically…but definitely spiritually.

At that moment, I became willing to do whatever it takes to triumph over my failures…to turn my mistakes into opportunities of growth, healing, and learning.

I can now look back on mistakes in my life, not with regret, but with a sense of wonder. I look back at that girl who was so desperate for God’s healing and I am so grateful for the choice I made to trust Him wholeheartedly. I believe that with every mistake we make, we come face to face with whether that mistake will be a turning point for us or whether we allow the mistake to essentially “win”.

When we choose to allow a mistake to be a catalyst for growth and to propel us to enter into a closer relationship with our Creator, then somehow, through His amazing grace, the broken pieces of our lives are transformed into something beautiful and usable.

I still don’t comprehend how He does this. I just know He does.

 

What about you?

What is that one post you would want to leave behind?

Share a link in the comments section.  I would love to read it!