Looking back at the path

Posted on: June 23, 2008 by Martha Petteys Related Categories: scattered thoughts

We are the sum of our experiences.

I am who I am because of what I’ve been through.

God laid this thought on my heart on Sunday and I wanted to share it.

Who hasn’t looked back on their past and thought, "Ouch, I wish I didn’t do that." Though my sins are forgiven and removed from me as far as the East is from the West, I still look back at my life before Christ on occasion and have regrets. It’s only natural to think about past failings, times we have fallen short of the mark, and think, that if we could do it over, we would have done things differently.

I look at my young children and think, "How can I isolate them from this world?," "How can I keep them from falling like I did?," "How can I protect them from the hurt of sin?"

That’s when God spoke to me, "They have to fall, so they can find forgiveness through me."

I can be no one’s Savior.

I will sin. And, those I love will fail. But I need to have the faith and trust in God that restoration will come.

So now, looking back on my past, do I regret my sins? I am sorry for them, yes. But I also realize that my failing are a big part of who I am today. I am the sum of my experiences.

Not only have I been able to enjoy God’s forgiveness, but I am able to be a minister of grace because I know what it feels like to have that grace extended to me.

This same thought can be extended to trials in life. When my brother died nine months ago, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through in my life. Yet, at the same time, I’ve never felt so close to God.

When people go through struggles – financial hardships, a death in the family, the sorrow of a miscarriage, the loss of a job – we might ask God – why?

But if we did not suffer, how would we ever have a point of reference, to help others when they suffer. Who better to help someone who has suffered loss than someone who has been there? Who better to lift someone up who is struggling with their finances, than someone who has been there?

We are the sum of our experiences: the times we have overcome sin; the times we have failed; the times we have been blessed; and the times we have suffered.

We are who we are because of all of it, the good and the bad.

And it makes us the ministers of the Gospel we are today.

– Martha

Add A Comment ::