Every Thursday I feature a “throwback” post from my blog archive. The goal is to take a look back and discover new lessons or new opportunities to grow. This week, we’ll look back at “Jumping on the Box.” You can view the original post here. For today, here’s a quick recap and a few more thoughts about how God, our Father, responds when we mess up.

Imagine telling your youngest daughter approximately one thousand times not to climb on one of her toy boxes. Your older daughter hears this and begins helping you enforce this policy. Then, you let your guard down thinking the box-climbing days are over. Suddenly you hear the sound of a snap and a loud crash followed by tears. You turn toward the chaos to see something you never expected to see: the oldest daughter, the one who helped enforce the no climbing on the box policy, surrounded by shards of broken plastic and sporting a brand new cut up the side of her leg. That’s the story that “Jumping on the Box,” recounts. What a day. 

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Honestly, until I reread this post, I had completely forgotten about this story. Even still, some of the details are fuzzy. That’s the great thing about mistakes. We can learn, grow, and move on. Honestly, I don’t think either of my daughters has ever jumped on a plastic box again. It was a painful enough experience for both of them that they need not repeat it. As their dad, the one who had to correct this behavior, I had completely wiped it from the memory banks. 

Good news friends, this is how God responds to us when we repent of our mistakes. Check out what David tells us in Psalm 103. 

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (Emphasis added)

If you’re like me, there are times you have felt like you’ve messed up too badly to talk to God. Guess what, you haven’t. Repentance is always available and the Lord is always waiting and wanting you to come home. Your mistakes don’t define you; your creator does. And he says you are made righteous through His son Jesus. If you have a relationship with Him, you can always turn back. And if you don’t, his arms are open for you to turn to him. If you’d like to know more about what that means and how you can find peace, grace, and forgiveness in him, I’d love to talk to you about your next step. 

If you’d like to connect about anything above, email me at brandon@brandonhair.me. I’d love to talk with you.