I remember a season of discipline my oldest son went through when he was near preschool age.  He was a repeat offender.  We tried all sorts of approaches to help him learn and continue in the right way, but all efforts seemed ineffective and any success was short-lived.  One day I could tell that he finally grasped the error of his ways.  He looked up at me with eyes overflowing with tears, revealing a truly broken heart and sincerely exclaimed, “I’ll never do that again!”  Inside, I was celebrating.  My heart was overjoyed because we had made a break-through.  Yet, I knew he would do it again, even though his desire was completely genuine.  However, this was also the beginning of the end.  Even though he’d stumble again, he was headed in the right direction.

Being a parent has been an invaluable experience in learning and understanding more about the love of God.  We typically look at our life through the eyes of the child, but we get a different perspective when we look through the eyes of a parent.  When my son did repeat his error again, he was hard on himself.  He was full of shame and felt distant.  He thought I’d be surprised and ashamed of him.  But I wasn’t surprised or ashamed.  I knew he was learning and maturing.  I didn’t berate him saying, “See!  I knew it!  I told you you’d do it again.”  Sure, there were consequences, but we dealt with them together.  I loved and encouraged him through a change in heart.

Maybe you have had the experience of trying to teach a child a concept and it’s just not clicking.  You’ve tried and tried multiple approaches and nothing works.  Finally, one day, the child catches on.  What are you thinking and feeling at that moment?  Are you disgruntled with the child for taking so long to understand or are you overjoyed and celebrating, perhaps celebrating more than the child?

A friend of mine recently relayed an experience that was somewhat similar.  As she was driving she heard a Christian song on the radio that drove home the reality that God had been with her, by her side, through all her difficulties.  As the song played, she recounted time after time of how His presence was with her, but at the time she was totally unaware.  All the pieces came together at once and she was overcome with tears.  She was grateful for His revelation and His presence, yet she was slamming her palm to her forehead.

So many times we think to ourselves, “How could I be so blind and not see that?  How dense could I be?  What’s wrong with me?”  When perhaps we should take a step back and look at it from the eyes of our holy, loving Father.  He’s celebrating.  He’s overjoyed that it’s finally clicked.  Progress has been made.  Learning and maturing is taking place.  It’s a new beginning.

After we sin, we may feel shame or banished from the presence of God.  We live in a consumable and disposable society.  Why would God not be like that too?  But God has proved Himself time and time again to be a God of restoration, and He celebrates restoration.  In fact, let’s compare.  How would the world complete the following thought:

“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not . . . ”

I chose to fill in the blank with, “…just cut his losses or get another one?”  I’m interested to hear what you thought.

But how does Jesus finish the story?

“…will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.” Matthew 18:12b-13

Jonah disobeyed, but God directed him back on track.  Peter denied, but was used mightily.  God is never done with you.  He celebrates restoration and growth.  Keep on maturing and celebrating progress!

Scriptures for this week:
Isaiah 42:1-9
Jonah 2:1-3:1
Luke 22:54-62; Acts 2:14,38-41; 4:8-13
Luke 15:3-32
1 John 2:28-3:10