Just because the past didn’t turn out like you wanted it to, doesn’t mean your future can’t be better than you ever imagined. — Unknown
No one plans to become addicted . . . but many do. No one asks to be born into a dysfunctional family . . . but many are. No one wants to experience great loss or disappointment in their lives . . . but many have. We don’t set out to make mistakes that create long-term consequences and difficulties for us . . . but it happens all too often.
There comes a point for most of us when we look back over our life and think that it has become so messed up that there is no chance to redeem it. We have screwed up too often or we have been the victim of too much misfortune to ever turn it around. Our hope is gone. Too much water has gone under the bridge.
Yes, we may have made some very unwise decisions or not realized what a destructive path we were on. Our life may have spun completely out of control, but no matter how messed up things look today or how hopeless we feel, it’s NOT TOO LATE!
God does not want us to live in defeat. No matter where we are now, what we’ve waded through, or how far we’ve wandered from Him, our God STILL has good plans for us.
He’s in the redemption business. The dictionary says that “redeem” means “1. to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something; 2. to make something that is unpleasant better or more acceptable; 3. to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.” Titus 2:14 says that Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
Yes, His sacrifice has, indeed, saved us from our sin, but it also purifies us and washes away the lasting negative effects of our past. It replaces the auto-pilot course our life was on with hope and the prospect of a far better future than we could ever imagine.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”—Jeremiah 29:11
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