The gospel of right choices

There’s more than one way to get to where you need to go.

It’s why I don’t just look up directions on the maps app on my phone. I also check out Google maps.

Sometimes they are in sync, other times they provide different ways to get to my desired destination. So I choose the one that seems clear to me at the time.

Not necessarily the one that gets me there the fastest.

The Old Testament is filled with stories of people who made choices.

And many times, they chose poorly.

Sometimes they went left, when they should have gone right.

Sometimes they lied, when they should have told the truth.

Sometimes they gave into temptation, when they should have run.

Sometimes they just made a huge mess of things.

And while there are many stories in the Old Testament that are cautionary tales of bad choices, there is a bigger story—God’s story—that was being told.

It’s a bigger story . . .

One that is about a God who redeems bad choices.

One that is about a God who isn’t limited by the choices and actions of us.

One that is about a God who chooses to let us be involved, but doesn’t depend on it.

We see a God who is bigger than our choices.

When we only look at the choices people make, we take God out of it.

When we believe that we are on some kind of invisible path, and that if we decide our next step incorrectly that it will crash our world, we limit God.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do our best to make good choices.

I do believe that our choices can bring some really good or bad things in our lives.

But I also know that no matter how much I eat the right things, I may still get cancer. Or hit by a bus.

Or if I save money like a miser that there still may be something that wipes me out financially.

Or . . . Well, you get the idea.

I am saying that we shouldn’t live in fear of making the wrong choice.

Sure, we should seek wisdom. We should see what God has to say about it in the Bible—whether through a principle or direct command. We should do our research. We should get advice from smart people.

But ultimately God is bigger than my choices.

He gives me instructions, wisdom on how to make good choices through His Word, the Bible.

And even when I choose something that has an undesired result, I can trust that as I lean into Him, He can redeem that choice by either bringing good out of the situation and/or bringing good from me with the things He teaches me.

This is all so much bigger than me.

He can take the good or the bad, and use it to make me more like Him.

He can use my perfect steps or missteps to tell His story of redemption.