Wrong Turns

...There is a common understanding of Providence, common in our culture, that would tend to see only one highway for our life [God's plan] and that would argue that wrong decisions can only be corrected by returning to the previous point and starting over. Thus when we take a wrong turn – we must go back and correct it and get back on the previous route.

This reminds me of the GPS unit in my car which occasionally, having run out of “on-the-map” solutions, says, “If possible make a U-turn!”

There is another understanding of Providence, more common in the Eastern Fathers, in which God’s work in our lives is seen as far more creative. There is not one route, but one destination. Thus if we make a wrong turn, God is quite capable of continuing to bring us to union with Him. The problem is not that of a route, but of our heart.
Wrong Turns and the Providence of God, Fr Stephen

Often I hear people say, "Well what was the last thing God told you to do? Go back and do that." Well good grief, sometimes I don't even remember what the last thing He told me to do was. How messed up is that? If I can't recall exactly what it was am I just up a creek? No boat, no paddle?

The Eastern perspective helps. It helps a lot. Most of the time, you can't go back to where you messed up because you just don't know exactly where that was or it's just plain impossible to do because of circumstances. Understanding that God is about the destination--union with Him--and not about the exact route that union takes takes some of the pressure off.

When I was at university, I used to say, "I don't do anything I will regret." Arrogant, no? Nowadays, I regret many things. There is so much I wish I had never done, people I wish I had never associated with, choices I wish hadn't made, words I wish had never come out of my mouth. There is no way to un-do those things.

Thanks be to God that He doesn't need me to! He can take care of things Himself, in spite of me. Perhaps I can know some of His good and perfect will, but He knows the complete plan and how I fit into it and He can fix what I screw up. What He wants from me is to conform myself to Him the best way I can. I think He's figured out now that I will screw up regularly. Praise God for His mercy because I definitely need it. But my screw-ups are not the end of it. Knowing that makes life a little easier.

I am not so arrogant as to believe that I'm any holier than anyone else. Even a blind man can see how untrue that is. That's a mistake I hope never to make. I also know that thinking repentance is just saying "I'm sorry,"that salvation is the work of a moment and that grace returns quickly are equally mistaken beliefs.

Lord have mercy on me a sinner!

Relevant Reading
Romans 8:28-29, 38-39
Romans 12:2
Philippians 2:12