“Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.”—Genesis 41:9 (NIV)
My son Ross was preparing for the SAT, searching the house for pencils to take to the college entrance exam. “We must make a lot of mistakes around here,” he said, laughing, “because all I can find are pencils with no erasers.”
He had a point. I make my share of mistakes and not just when I’m writing. Just last week, angry about a friend’s criticism, I spoke too harshly to her. Now the friendship is in trouble. I regretted my words and wondered why I couldn’t control my tongue. What does God do with mistake-makers? I asked myself.
Turning to the Bible for some sort of answer, I was surprised to see that God puts His mistake-makers to work. For instance, the disciple Peter was devastated by his denying Jesus. But not only did he find forgiveness, he went on to be used by God to bring thousands to Christ. In another passage, the apostle Paul says he wants to do what is good but somehow can’t seem to do it. Still, God used him to bring the Gospel to the entire Gentile world.
Maybe I needn’t feel so bad about my house full of eraserless pencils. At least they show that we try to correct our mistakes. I needed to do that with my friend: apologize for being so quick-tempered. Maybe my mistake wouldn’t mean the end of our friendship.
Mistakes are never the end of the line with You, God. Thank You for Your forgiveness, the ultimate eraser.
