“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7)

In the “take your own devotions seriously” category, the day after my devotions reminded us, among other things, to pray about everything and always ask God for direction and his opinion, I let my husband talk me into going out to some marketing class on Saturday morning when I’d wanted to spend a relaxing day at home.  In a classic, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death” moment, we ran off the way that seemed right, without praying and asking God as I’d been warned to just the day before, and naturally we never made it to where we were going.

Obviously, we’re both alive and in one piece, thank God, albeit somewhat battered, but our car is done for, our finances are taking a huge hit, and my poor husband feels awful about all this, especially that I have a concussion that knocked me out of my wits for about five hours on Saturday. He blames himself, but he shouldn’t. It was really my fault. Rather than simply heeding my husband’s voice, I should have insisted we pray and seek direction from God. If we had, he might have told us to say home. We’ll never know now. But I hope I’ve learned my lesson–and that we’ll forgive ourselves, since I doubt my husband will buy my attempt to relieve his sense of guilt. 🙂 But we must, regardless, not pridefully make ourselves more righteous than God. If He has forgiven us, we must also forgive us.

We trespassed, we failed, but there is forgiveness and redemption through the blood of Christ and a wealth of grace that He lavishes upon us. Let us learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves up, and move on in Him.

Lord, take our failures and mistakes and through your grace and mercy, redeem them for your glory. I pray you would be glorified and lifted up as you bring good out of evil. Strengthen us to forgive ourselves and grow in wisdom and a closer walk with you. Teach us your way and guard our step in you. I pray we would walk circumspectly, not assuming, but seeking your direction on all things. May we grow in discipline. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.