Throughout my teenage years, I have heard many silly things said about one's mistakes. One in particular is, "I messed up God's path for me." One may say this in assumption of their wrong doing such as disobeying their parents, making wrong decisions in school, being tempted to do wrong, actually doing wrong and the like.
Thinking about this statement changes our perspective of God, who He actually is and how we believe in Him. As believers and as humans, we go through trials. We struggle. We make mistakes. We mess up, and the world feels like it's ending and that God could never possibly forgive us. But when we just stop and think for a moment, we should just ask ourselves a simple question: "Am I fully trusting in God's plan for me?" Yes, it's a simple question, but in the heat of the moment, we just forget everything that God has revealed to us. Because of this, we just assume that we messed everything up and that God's plan for us has changed by a one-time thing. As a result, the timing and outcome of God's plan for us is now shifted by the number of mistakes you have made. Or that's what one may assume.
But I am here to tell you that assuming this is completely false and unnecessary to believe.
"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).
You see, yes, we do make mistakes. On a daily basis we make wrong decisions, but because Christ died on the cross, He has redeemed us and washed away our sins as a whole. Yet, these mistakes do not interfere with God's pre-knowledge of our existence and story.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
God knows our story before we even enter the world. He knows our hearts and what we need before we even say a thing.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-22).
Therefore, before we assume that our faults and mistakes are permanent, they are not. Each of our plans are strategically planned out by an infinite, unchanging God who requires nothing more or less than Himself for His own knowledge and control over us.
