You can't mess up your life if you try

[memoriesbymichelle]

Do you know this? Did you realize that you really cannot mess up your life, even if you try?

I know we have a hard time wrapping our brain around free will versus God having a plan for our lives, and predestination and all that.

Proverbs 21:1,2 says " The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."

We know God does everything in appointed times because it also talks about that alot in the Bible. It also mentions how the Lord hardened Pharoh's heart.
And sometimes even though it seems like we are in the wrong place or have taken a wrong turn, it might be exactly the turn God wanted us to make (think Joseph).

Last night I was thinking about a current friend of mine. He used to live around the corner from my step-dad and mom's house and was always hanging out with my step dad. I thought he was a pesky little kid that was kind of annoying. What I did not find out until reconnecting with him on FB all these years later, was that his dad was emotionally and physically abusive and was an alcoholic. THAT is why he hung out with my step dad all the time! He didn't want to be at home! He turned out to be a great man and a good friend to me. He loved my step dad and my mom and is a wonderful Christian man now!
I found myself thinking about what if I would have been mean to him back then. What if I had told him how I thought he was annoying and pesky. Would it have changed anything? IDK....but I DO know this

We don't know who we affect or when we affect them sometimes. But God does and He is always there.

It's a great feeling realizing that you cannot mess up your life. You cannot do anything to get yourself into, or keep yourself out of heaven if that is your destination. JMHO

 

[dayhiker]

That great to hear how your step dad treated the kid in the neighborhood.

 

[mjmcmillan]

OK. How do you go about proving that in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

I know people who have made an awe-inspiring mess of their lives WITHOUT trying. My own life hasn't always been so great either, and there have been times you wouldn't recommend to your friends that they should try it, too.

Maybe it's hard to make an irredeemable mess of your life. God is able to clean up the most astounding situations, after all. But the idea that you can't make a mess of your life flies in the face of reams of evidence.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

Ok well you got me...kind of.....I didn't say you can't make a mess of your life.....I said you can't mess up your life.....2 different sentences.

What I meant by my statement...you can't mess up your life if you try....is that you can't mess up your life to the point of no return. Or you can't make such a bad choice (unless you un-choose God) that God cannot turn it around for good for those that love him.

But alot of times we listen to voices or people or things we read that suggest that if only we would have done this or that, the WHAT IF scenerio, or that our life is a big waste because we aren't doing this or that. But since we don't know what God's plan is for our lives, and we don't know that even if we were to get thrown in jail, that we might have gotten thrown in there to witness to someone or IDK but all is not lost.

This world is so broken and we are all so messed up just because of that and we don't need any help in messing up our lives. To ME it is just comforting to know that God can and WILL work everything out and we don't know that even in our trials we are being watched and maybe even helping someone unbeknownest to us.

Does that mean life is now a bowl of cherries? NO! But at least we have a hope that someday it will be. When Jesus comes back! and in the mean time He's got MY back!

 

[Doctor Strangelove]

It is best to avoid extremes. Now, if you make bad choices you might have to live with the consequences. God very well might not spare you from the consequences here on Earth. I have heard some legalists say that in effect God is an angry score-keeper and he is just waiting to pour out His wrath on you, because that is what God is all about (according to them). I think that is clearly wrong. On the other hand, it is true you should not provoke God with blatant sin. He might not try to convict you and just leave you in your sinful state. We all know people who hear the Gospel but are entirely unmoved by it. Does the Holy Spirit "give up" on some people at some point?

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

It is best to avoid extremes. Now, if you make bad choices you might have to live with the consequences. God very well might not spare you from the consequences here on Earth. I have heard some legalists say that in effect God is an angry score-keeper and he is just waiting to pour out His wrath on you, because that is what God is all about (according to them). I think that is clearly wrong. On the other hand, it is true you should not provoke God with blatant sin. He might not try to convict you and just leave you in your sinful state. We all know people who hear the Gospel but are entirely unmoved by it. Does the Holy Spirit "give up" on some people at some point?

Well I wouldn't say that God or the Holy Spirit gives up on anyone, BUT God DOES know who will choose Him and who will not, so He does have that advantage of seeing the whole picture. He knew that Judas would betray Him and yet! He still chose him as one of His disciples so....

Yes true, if you make bad choices you might have to bear the consequences, but God will still work it out (well He already has) for His glory

 

[dayhiker]

Good question. What ever we say are theories as I don't think there is a clear word that covers all cases in the Bible. We have verses that say God wouldn't reject a humble person and verses that say if a person commits a sin unto death that we aren't to pray for them.

I've heard so many testimonies about Christians that have had God take them back thru their life before Christ and show them all the times He was there to help them thru trouble. I'm sure this is God preferred way to love people. Yet it also seems that at some point God will take all His blessing away from a person that has done evil and hurt people, probably even hurt people for their own entertainment. So God would be saying I'm going to let you suffer the full extent of your choices.

That's how I see it, but I don't know how closely I speak God's mind.