“I always wonder. I know it’s not good to sit and think of the would-have-should-haves, but I definitely wonder where I’d be today if I’d done some things differently.”
Something I told my friend as we sat in an outdoor pavilion as we took cover from the rain coming down around us. We had just missed the coffee shop that closed at 6 and were trying to find a spot to sit and catch up quickly before we headed home to figure out dinner and unwind for the night.
A topic that came up was all of the things we’d do differently now that we knew what we knew in our lives.
I’ve never understood those people who say they don’t regret anything because it would seem that wisdom and experience always teach the opposite – that our past is exactly that: our past. We grow, we mature, we develop, we learn from mistakes. This is a major reason why we are who we are today. But, that’s a side topic.
All of this begs the question – do our wrong decisions or delays mess up the plan God has for our lives?
Can we mess up God’s plans with our delays or disobedience?
When I hear this question or find myself asking it, I’m reminded of Proverbs 16:9 that says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
As I was reading my Bible this morning during my quiet time, I happened to be reading through Hebrews 11. If you aren’t familiar with that chapter, most people refer to it as the hall of faith list. It’s a list of Old Testament people who showed what it looked like to live a life of faith.
I’ve been watching verse by verse sermons through Cornerstone Chapel church in Leesburg, Virginia, although I’ve never actually gone there and have no idea where it even is. But I’ve found the Pastor’s sermons incredibly useful when diving into scripture lately, as I love learning the context and diving in deeper when time allows.
In this chapter there are several verses about Abraham but we’ll focus on the one that was touched on most in this sermon.
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)
But the pastor went on to talk about how Abraham left his home city of Ur (in what is believed to be modern day Iraq) and went along the Euphrates River route which wasn’t a straight path. He also stopped in a place called Haran (modern day Turkey) for what this pastor and other commentaries believe to be around 25 years.
25 years settled in a place where he wasn’t supposed to settle. That’s quite a big delay if you ask me. 25 years is now less time than I’ve been alive but still pretty close to how many years I’ve been on this planet. It’s long enough to say that this was his new home, to say the least.
But God had called Abraham to the promised land of Canaan, He hadn’t called him to stay in Haran. This place was almost like a place of half-obedience, between his old life and the new life God had for him and his descendants.
No doubt he had settled into what was the new comfortable for him. Maybe his father and nephew (Lot) had convinced him that this was good enough in terms of moving from their old home, that it was as good as they were going to get. Did they really have to venture to Canaan when Haran seemed like it could be a good fit?
The Bible says that in Haran, “Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.” (Genesis 11:32). It’s often big events or traumatic moments that can propel us into the very plan that God has for us, or at least urge our hearts to obey when we’ve been too comfortable in our disobedience.
The next verse says this: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’” (Genesis 12:1).
Not only did Abraham neglect to follow the part of the command that mentioned leaving his father’s household, but he also settled in a place where he must have surely known wasn’t the place that God had shown him as the destination.
But did any of that matter in the end?
Maybe it delayed things a little longer, but the plan still unfolded the way that God intended all along. They still ended up in the promised land of Canaan. Abraham and Sarah gave birth to the promised son, Isaac, who would lead to descendants more numerous than stars in the sky.
And what’s even more amazing is that in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith chapter it only mentions that Abraham by faith “obeyed and went.” It doesn’t say that he delayed and spent too long in Haran on the way, leading to being less faithful than others in the chapter. That fact isn’t included anywhere in the chapter because the truth is that no matter how long it took for Abraham to get there, he did go in obedience to the land of Canaan that God had told him to go to.
The pastor in the sermon I watched said this, “Don’t be too worried about what the journey looks like alright? God just wants you to get there and God will help us along the way to accomplish His good purposes to eventually get us where He wants us to be.” (Around 15 minutes in, this video).
And if He got Abraham to where He wanted him to go even with some delays on the way, how much of a relief is that for us?
You’re Not Going to Mess it Up
Friend, if you’re like me and you wonder if maybe you’ve somehow delayed your obedience too long or made too many bad choices along the way, pause for a second.
Be reminded of the often-quoted verse that Joseph says to his brothers when discussing their former actions and how their jealousy and hatred ended in him being sold as a slave in Egypt.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
While what his brothers did wasn’t part of God’s plan, He still used it to accomplish His purposes and His plan for the life of Joseph and for all of the Israelites.
Or think of God telling Jonah to go preach in Nineveh and Jonah not wanting to and he runs in the opposite direction. He finds himself on a ship that is going to sink where the crew casts lots to figure out who is the cause of the boat sinking, and it lands on Jonah. From there, he’s thrown off and is then swallowed by a whale.
Maybe it’s not a pretty picture but God got Jonah’s attention when he had no way out of a whale for 3 days and nights.
“And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:10)
Finally, God allows Jonah to leave the whale and then tells Jonah a second time, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you” (Jonah 3:1-2). This time Jonah obeys and heads to Nineveh.
Last but not least, one of my favorite Psalms talks about how God knew everything about the days of my life before I was even born. Which means He knows all of the days of your life before you were even born as well. So take heart!
“Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).
I pray that reading this post has left you feeling more encouraged that you haven’t missed it – that you haven’t ruined God’s plan for you life. Friend, we are so small and God is so very big! Keep moving forward.
-Marissa
Questions to think through or journal:
- Are there certain areas in my life that I feel have passed the point of being redeemed by God? If so, what are these areas and why do I believe that?
- Thinking on the scriptures above and knowing how God redeemed the actions of these people in the Bible, do you now believe your own actions or decisions can also be redeemed and used to further God’s plan?
- Are there any areas in your life where you are actively disobeying or even “half-obeying” God in? How can you take action to change that today or this week?
