Not Again!
(An Article I penned in 2004 just seemed appropriate to share today when so many people I know and work with struggle with the "not again" syndrome. Myself included. Thankfully, we have hope)
“Oops, I did it
again…” the teen-theme song blared from my neighbor’s boom box as the fourteen-something,
belly-baring-girl shimmied around her mom’s car, soap dripping from the sponge
turned microphone in her hand. I didn’t
know car washing could be such an event!
But the lyrics of this seemingly mindless melody caught my
attention.
Sadly, in my
before-Christ and even my after-Christ life, I had danced to the beat of that
same theme song. I’d find myself saying,
“How could I be so stupid? Why, God, why
did I do this again?” Well, the answer, although simple, is not
always easily understood, and breaking free from the I-messed-up-again-cycle
can seem like a daunting task without the right steps to follow.
I learned the why
was fairly obvious – because I am human, and I have fallen short of the glory
of God. When Adam and Eve sunk their
pearly whites into that luscious fruit, we, the people of today, were deeply
affected. In fact, throughout history,
the mantra “I did it again” has been repeated more than a few times, by more
than a few people. Every time I eat that
second serving of dinner (or third) that I promised myself, and God, I would
avoid, I repeat that age-old mantra.
When I used to be involved with drugs and destructive relationships, I’d
continually beat myself with the “not again, not again, not again…” club, which
I had grown very accustomed to swinging.
Stopping seemed like some elusive ideal, achievable only by those super
spiritual individuals who lived in isolation, far away from the wear and tear
of daily life in a mixed up, torn up world.
However, as I have gotten to know my Savior and His Word on a deeper
level, I have discovered we truly can start singing a new song—a song of hope,
redemption, and love.
Thankfully, we
serve a God of second, third, and even three hundred chances. In fact, most of our biblical ancestors
messed up really bad (I mean bad) and
they were still able to find forgiveness and a new hope in their Lord when they
were truly repentant and sought His Way.
I’m certainly not implying their personal consequences vanished, or all
godly correction was avoided, but they did find forgiveness and grace to continue
on and influence us for the better, today.
Paul’s famous
words explain that our internal battles are not only expected, but with God
they can be corrected, and even conquered.
Romans 7: 14-15 (NIV) states -- We
know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to
sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I
hate, I do. Now granted, we can gain
a sense of comfort in these words just by the knowledge that the great Apostle
Paul struggled, too. However, left with these
words alone, we’d still be stuck in our “not again” syndrome.
Thankfully, Paul
doesn’t stop there. In Romans Chapter 8
(NIV) he reminds us, Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ
Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
The good news –
there is a solution. In our relationship
with Jesus, we can find freedom from this vicious cycle of sin. Utilizing the “Three R’s” we will discover no matter what our mess might be we
serve a God who is in the transformation business. He doesn’t just leave us stuck in the muck of
our mistakes. Our incredible God can and
does take those ugly, messy, mishaps and somehow finds a way to turn these
experiences into calling cards that highlight His goodness and glory.
First, we must Recognize our mistakes. If we don’t remove our rose-colored glasses
and take an honest appraisal of our mess, or possibly multiple messes, we will
remain rolling in the mud of our sinfulness.
God doesn’t cleanse us when we stand cockily, with our hands on our
hips, shouting heavenward about how we don’t need His help…thank you very
much. Recognizing and accepting that we
have made a big, smelly mess is the first step out of the darkness of
denial.
Have you ever
noticed when someone makes a mistake, often times he or she starts blaming
anyone and everyone but him or herself?
The old “he said, she said” fault finding madness begins. As a former vocational counselor, who worked
in a drug and alcohol treatment setting, I witnessed this phenomenon on a
daily, actually hourly basis. The story
goes like this: The client enters my
office and shares they relapsed and used drugs, again. Then, instead of saying, “Hey, I made a
mistake.” The list of whose fault it was
is rolled out in front of me for examination.
The dog died.
My shoelace broke.
I was angry.
I was sad.
They hurt me.
I hurt them.
They made me.
I couldn’t help
myself.
Yes, life happens
and life hurts. However, just like Eve
had a choice in the garden, we have a choice today. Life is so much easier, and freedom is attainable
when we simply start off by recognizing we have made a mistake and created a
mess. When we do this we open the door
to the clean-up-step. The Second “R”
stands for Repent and Release.
Once we recognize
that we have fallen short of God’s best, and fully understand the choice was
ours, we can confess and turn from our mistaken ways. I have a friend who described mercy to a
group of school age children with the following story. She explained one way to understand God’s
grace and mercy was to picture Him working away in a humungous kitchen. Every morning, He welcomes His children, us,
around a magnificent table. Here, He
dishes out a fresh batch of mercy that He whipped up for the new day. After all, God’s mercies are fresh every
morning.
When we repent,
and release our sins into His capable hands, we can expect to be fed a fresh
batch of grace and mercy prepared specifically for us. We no longer have to wallow in our mess. Just as the Prodigal Son rose from the filth
of the pig pen to return to his father, we must recognize we are in the mud,
climb out, and release our sin and heartache to our loving Father.
Finally, like the
robe was draped around the returning prodigal, our Heavenly Father wraps His
love around us. The third “R,” God’s renewing power, revives and
revitalizes. This is the step, where God
steps in, takes over, and does His incredible work in our lives. Scripture compares our Lord as to a Potter is
to his clay, a Vinedresser to his vineyard, a Silversmith to his precious
metals, a Father to his child, even as a mother hen is to her chicks. In other words, He is now at work restoring
and renewing his creation – us.
Although, this restoration and renewal process may be painful at times,
we can expect the end result to be beyond our wildest expectations. Just as a designer carefully draws his plans
to restore an old, dilapidated house, and as the builder makes changes on the
outer structure, and the remodeling specialist enters and works on the inside
of the home, our God is at work on, around, and in us. This particular Designer, Builder, and
Restorer has our best interest in mind, always.
Instead of saying –
oops, I did it again -- when we sin,
we can quickly recognize our
mistake, repent and release it to
God, and expect Him to renew us once
more. No mess is too dirty. No sin is too ugly. Nothing is too difficult for our Lord. He
takes on the toughest projects and is able to complete them all using His
perfect design plans. No matter how
messy our lives may be, or how many times God has started to clean up our
“insides,” no matter how many times we have cried out… “Not again!” God still loves us with an everlasting,
unceasing, and eternal love. The best way to avoid messy mistakes in the
first place is to stay close to our First Love -- Jesus Christ. When we begin to understand the depth of His
love, life will never be the same again.
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