As a mom, a writer, and general human, I often worry about making mistakes. Did I make mistakes with raising my first child? Most definitely! Do I make mistakes raising my fifth child? Yes, but not the same mistakes. These are an entirely new set of mistakes. Are mistakes wrong or bad in someway? Maybe, we are not perfect. We haven’t been perfect in a very, very long time. But God does not make mistakes.
In the Beginning: (paraphrased from the NIV Bible)
So, God made man from the dust of the earth and placed him in the garden.
The man was alone.
Genesis 2:18 – The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Then all the animals were brought before the man, and he named them.
The animals had good things, helpful things about them, but none of them were suitable as a helpmate for the man.
Was this a Mistake? Or did God forget something?
Genesis 2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
God created the entire universe, the earth and everything that lives on it, but when He made man, Adam, the man was alone. Did God make a mistake? Was this an oversight? I don’t think so. I think that He just wasn’t finished yet.
We rush through this and other stories, seeing the gaps clearly, but do we stop and notice the final product, the image when it is finished? When you get to the end of a story is everything solved or do you go look for the sequel. We want to see the whole picture but often I don’t think we can. At least not yet. I have a t-shirt with the message, ‘God isn’t finished writing your story, so stop trying to steal the pen.’ I really like this idea. All these things in our lives that feel like mistakes, oversights and forgotten moments, maybe they aren’t bad things. Maybe we should wait until we can see the big picture.
A decade ago, I was training with the RCMP, a para-military police force. I had prayed, asked my family and friends, and my mentors whether this was a good idea. Nearly all supported me and my decision to join the police force. I spent more than a year preparing to take the training and I passed the testing with flying colours. I understood this to mean that God approved. Even when training was difficult, I pushed forward believing that God was with me and encouraging me. Then everything changed. I got injured, and sent home without any assistance, or respect. I was alone.
Had I misunderstood or misinterpreted His support?
Had God abandoned me? Had He allowed the injury so I would return to my family, my husband? Had I misunderstood or misinterpreted His support? Had the belief that being part of the police force was what He intended for me been wrong? Or...was He just preparing me for something else?My story wasn’t finished yet.
I thought for a long time that I had made a mistake. Occasionally, I blamed God. But through it all I continued to pray, sought God and lived the best I could. Slowly, oh so slowly, God called me for a different purpose. He molded me from the dust I was buried in and made me into the person He needed me to be now. Is my story finished? Not at all, but I am starting to see a little more of the revealed final image.
God doesn’t make mistakes. He is not human and constrained to seeing only what is right before His eyes. God is a being without time, as well. He can see the beginning and the end of all things. He knew that Adam needed a helpmate. But He let Adam look through all the animals first. Then God made the perfect person to be Adam’s helpmate, his wife, Eve. Maybe He had planned on Eve all along. But there were no mistakes. Just an unfinished project.
Next time you think there is a mistake in your life or question what God has planned, make sure you give God time to finish His project before pointing out the mistakes. We are human, He is not. He makes all things beautiful, in His time.
