Overcoming Mistakes

We all love the story of the underdog that overcomes. We all love a good against all odds, rags to riches, Cinderella type story. Why is that? Because they resonate with our own stories, and stir hope that maybe that story can be our story too. I may not know you, but here is what I know about you. There are challenges, problems, issues, mountains, things in your life that you hope to, want to, and need to overcome. Me too. 

In our journey to overcome any mistake we have made, we are faced with several questions that we wrestle with in some way. We have all broken promises, done some things that we aren’t proud of, and made assumptions about ourselves and others that affect our relationships. In the Bible, Peter had done some pretty impulsive things. He had made several poor decisions. He even broke a promise to God. 

Maybe you are the exception to this, but I have never met anyone who claims that they have never broken a promise. I don’t know about you, and I am not proud of it, but I have broken a few promises. Peter broke a promise to God himself. I have broken plenty of those too. And if you are honest, so have you. The question becomes CAN WE OVERCOME THE PROMISES WE’VE BROKEN?

Peter looks Jesus in the eye and says even if everyone else runs away, I won’t. In fact, I will die before I ever disown you. Within an hour of two of making this promise to Jesus himself here he is already having broken it. So Peter denies Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. All of a sudden there is more to this than can I overcome the promises I have broken. This moment raises another pretty familiar question in our lives too. 

CAN I OVERCOME THE THINGS I HAVE DONE? Have you ever done something in your life that took you somewhere you never wanted to go? Have you done something that you wish you could go back and have a do-over? This moment is Peter’s worst moment in his entire life. Peter has to be feeling pretty helpless here. He is not able to get to Jesus, to have a conversation with Him, to try and make things right. He can only standby and watch as Jesus is beaten, dies on a cross, and is put into the grave. 

I think we have all experienced this moment in our lives. A moment where we are trying to make things right. When we have done something wrong, assumptions are made by us, and about us. There is a conclusion to every story. Can we ever change our conclusion? CAN I OVERCOME THE CONCLUSIONS THAT I HAVE REACHED?

I had two completely different responses when my brother would tell me “dad wants to see you”. When I knew that I had done something wrong, it was a whole lot harder to go see him. My conclusion in those moments was, this is probably not going to go well for me. Have you ever been there? Many times we draw on assumptions and we don’t take the time to really learn about others. Peter needed some help with that. My guess is that we could all use some help there too. 

Maybe we need to rethink the conclusions that we have made about ourselves, about others and maybe we need to rethink some of the conclusions that we’ve made about Jesus. We don’t have to wait any longer. That is the hope of Easter.

I want to overcome the promises I have broken, the things I have done, and the conclusions I have reached. This helps me to grow and become better.