Mistakes, part 2

2. God will not stop us from making wrong choices.

God loves us. One who loves does not force. He tells us what to do. We can choose not to listen. Consider the prodigal son. It was the right of the father to strike his son down for asking for his inheritance early, but he did not. He allowed his son to go out into the world, and to make mistakes. Jesus taught this parable to show the love God has for us as our father, and the choices He allows us to make.

One can look as far back as Adam and Eve, and see that God did not stand over His creation and force them to stay away from the forbidden fruit. He knew the cost of disobedience, but Adam and Eve had the option to disobey. There are countless examples of this throughout the Bible.

Lot’s wife chose to look back on Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses chose to lack faith in God, and to strike the rock to make water come out in the desert. David chose to sleep with Bathsheba, and to have Uriah killed. Samson chose to marry Delilah. Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus to his death. God did not intercede in any of these instances to stop mistakes from being made. He sometimes used these mistakes for His good. He so loves us that he allows us to make our own mistakes.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for our actions. Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt. Moses was kept from ever entering the holy land. Judas Iscariot was so consumed by guilt that he took his own life. The important key is to realize when we’ve made such mistakes, and repent. There will usually still be consequences, but they may not be nearly as severe as the consequences would be if we continued down the wrong path. David repented, and so was allowed to remain God’s chosen. The child who was the product of his sin, however, still died, and there was disharmony in his household through all his days. These were the consequences of the wrong choice the Lord allowed David to make because He loved him too much to force him to do the right thing.

God loves us all the same, and we have the great fortune of being saved by grace. When we make wrong choices we have to admit it, and repent. Sometimes we can learn more about God through these mistakes, but only if we’re willing to admit our mistake. We have to make that choice. God will never force us.