Scrap Pile Growing?

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. (George Bernard Shaw)

How are you doing on that 'mistake' count? I could fill journals! Mistakes are a part of life - good or bad judgment is the only thing that contributes to mistake making - right timing combined with bad judgment can make for an equally messed up outcome. There are lots and lots of checks and balances that are in play every day to keep us from 'messing up', but you and I both know we don't always follow the rules or maintain a perfect balance! Mistakes aren't always bad, though. Yes, they can be costly, but the 'expense' of making a mistake is actually one way of saying we just had an investment made into our 'learning'!

For a good man may fall seven times and get back up again, but the wicked will stumble around and fall into misfortune. (Proverbs 24:17)

Scripture doesn't tell us a good man won't fall (fail) - it reminds us of the power within us that helps us get back up again and again. For those of us that fall pretty often, let me just lay it all out there. We fall down, God helps us get back up, we fall down again, and he still helps us get back up. God never tires of helping us up, but he would get pretty tired of us just plain quitting! Sometimes we think we will just fail again, so we quit instead of being subject to failure ever again. I am learning woodworking skills and I have a large pile of wood 'mistakes' that have been both time-consuming and costly. Have I given up? Nope! Why? I want to master this!

We need to have that "I want to master this" kind of attitude toward those things we label as mistakes or failures. Our mistakes don't master us - we master them, but that requires us getting back up and doing it over and over again until we get it right. Let me be clear here - God doesn't celebrate our mistakes, but he doesn't leave us to wallow in them, either. He reaches out his hand, helps us back up, dusts us off, and then helps us take the first steps toward 'mastering' whatever it is all over again. Why? He understands the power of grace. He has done more than just provide the 'means' by which we can have grace, he provides the constant learning that comes each time grace is extended.

A good man falls - not once - but repeatedly. Don't overlook those words because they will give you encouragement if you let them. We will fall. We have the choice as to whether we will get back up again, though. We can wallow or we can rise. What you choose to do with each mistake is really going to determine the outcome of the mistake. I choose to make mine learning opportunities. Yes, I have lots of 'scrap' in the woodpile, but I can always find a project to make from the 'scrap'! God has a way of turning our 'scrap' into something beautiful. So, why not trust him to help you up and get you started on the right path again? Just askin?

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