Bad Decisions Make… Better Stories?
I’ve made many, many bad decisions during my 47 years of life so far.
Earlier this evening I was in a social gathering place, and as I was looking around the words “BAD DECISIONS” suddenly jumped out at me.
I then read the following words…
Make BETTER STORIES
I started to reflect on some of my bad decisions, particularly up until I was 41.
Have my bad decisions in my 20s and 30s made better stories?
Can good come out of bad?
Can anything positive come out of negative acts?
Can my worst decisions actually be transformed in to better stories?
What about your bad decisions during your life?
Has good come out of bad?
Has anything positive come out of negative acts?
Do ALL things work for ultimate good?
If a Christian would have come up to me in early 2019 when I was 41 years young, and they said to me words to the effect “No matter what bad decisions you have made during your life, and no matter how other people’s bad decisions have negatively impacted your childhood and adult years, don’t worry because God works in all things for good…”
I would have been absolutely disgusted at them even saying such things, considering my whole life, which had appeared for many years to be “picture perfect”, was quite literally crumbling around me. Bad decisions by both people in my childhood and teenage years, along with my personal bad decisions, had been accumulating over many years, and now I was dealing with the life-changing consequences.
I would have likely responded to the Christian with words to the effect of “How the hell can God who I don’t believe in work in all things in my life for good? How could you ever take anything good out of being sexually abused as a boy? How could you ever take anything good out of years of mental and psychological abuse? Where is there any good in my life today, with everything collapsing around me?”
If I would have experienced this Christian coming up to me when I was 41, they would have been quoting from Romans 8 verse 28:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
And this is the profound truth of life..
BEFORE you have the personal revelation of Jesus Christ, it is highly likely that your identity and how you live life is based upon all your previous life experiences, and it is highly likely you will be carrying unforgivevess in your heart towards at least 1 person who has hurt you during your life. Childhood trauma, teenage years trauma, adult life trauma could also all be having a negative affect on your mental wellbeing and inner peace.
AFTER you have had the personal revelation of Jesus Christ, your life traumas start becoming part of your testimony. Your previous life pain starts getting transformed into your purpose. Your previous bad decisions start to demonstrate God’s grace and mercy upon your life.
Yes, your previous bad decisions start making better stories - life stories that point people to the only one who can save them and set them free from a life of sin leading to death - Jesus Christ.
What a profound truth of God to always remember:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
Agape, Paul
