By Chris WittsFriday 26 Apr 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
Most homes have them somewhere in the kitchen. And it’s the humble microwave oven. Yes, we’ve got lots of modern gadgets now, but I can remember when my wife and I got our first microwave oven. I thought it was incredible. This small oven would heat up my cup of tea quite efficiently. And how did it work? I’m grateful to the Christian communicator, Carl Faase for pointing out this fact.
Did you know that the invention of the microwave oven was actually a discovery by mistake? It was the scientist Percy Lee Baron Spencer, who during World War 2, was working on the development of a radar system to assist the Allied forces detect Nazi warplanes. And as he stood in front of an operating magnetron, he realised that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. So he experimented further to understand why this happened. And he created a whole industry. The microwave oven was born. Isn’t that amazing?
The importance of mistakes
So in one sense, it was a mistake. But what an important breakthrough it became for millions of households. But talking about mistakes, I don’t think we like making mistakes. Have you heard about the young cashier in a bank who showed great promise? And one day he happened to be alone with the president of the bank? He said, “I would like to rise to a high position like yours one day. Do you have any advice for me?” And the head of the bank said two words. Right decisions. The young man thought about that and said, “but how do I learn to make right decisions?” And the boss said, “experience.” Well, the young man scratched his head. “But how do I get experience?” And the president of the bank said “with bad decisions.”
Norman, Vincent Peel said – “Who doesn’t make mistakes?” But the greatest error of all is to let any mistake destroy your faith in yourself. The only sensible course is to study and analyse why you made the mistake. Learn all you can from it. Then forget it. Go ahead, figure on doing better next time.
There are many reasons why people can and do make mistakes. I mean, mistakes can be personal things. Some people tend to make the same kind of mistake over and over. It depends on who you are and your situation. We’re all different, and everyone makes their own choice and mistakes. Mistakes are part of life learning. The lesson of a mistake can make something bad into an invaluable tool for the future. So don’t become too discouraged by a mistake or two.
How to handle mistakes
Do you ever kick yourself, so to speak for your past mistakes? Try not to do that. It’s unproductive. It remains a temptation when we make a blunder we didn’t want to, and I think many people can’t let go of the past. What is it about human beings and their inability to let the past be the past? Your value as a person has got nothing to do with your performance because God says, ‘I love you’. God’s love for you is not dependent upon what you do. It’s dependent upon who He is, not based on how you get on or how good you are. It’s based on His character, and God says you are worthwhile simply because He made you and He doesn’t make any junk.
If you think you’ve got to be perfect in order for God to love you, you’ve missed the central message of the Bible. You’ve missed the whole thing. If you think you’ve got to work for God to smile at you, don’t you know already that you’re the apple of His eye, that you’re precious in His sight? God says, I love you unconditionally, regardless of what you’ve done, there’s nothing that you can do that will ever make God love you more than He does right now.
And there’s nothing you can ever do that will make God love you any less than He does right now. You can’t make Him love you less because His love is based on who He is, and that is a loving God. And when Jesus Christ died for you on the cross, He paid for every failure that you’re ever going to commit, the ones you did yesterday today and the ones coming up tomorrow. You can rest in God’s grace, no matter how you fail or the mistakes you’ve made. If you’ve committed your life to Christ and you’ll return to him, God will pull you through that and surprise, surprise, He’ll even turn it around and use it for good.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, I’ve lost count of the number of mistakes I’ve made in my lifetime. And yet, Lord, I know that I don’t have to be pessimistic because you can use even the biggest mistakes of my life. With your grace, things can turn around and my life can be productive and helpful to you and to others. Help me not to be dragged down because of mistakes, but to look to you for a better future today and always, Amen.