God, thank You for being the Redeemer of every part of my story—even the parts I wish I could erase. Help me believe that nothing is wasted in Your hands. Give me the courage to bring You my regrets and trust You to bring purpose from the pain. I believe You are still writing something beautiful.
Well, hey friends, welcome back to the weekday podcast, this is Bobby. We're so glad you're here. This is episode 19 of 25 of what Only God Can Do. And if you've missed any of these, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to these. They all build on one another and they tie into even our Sunday teaching. And so Pastor Chuck and I absolutely love doing these. And if you ever get behind, Saturdays are a great day just to spend a little extra time asking what only God can do. Well, today I want to think about this one idea that's deeply personal and it's regret. We all have it. Some of it's from things that happen to us, some of it's from things that we did. The relationship that fell apart that season of drifting from God, that decision that led to years of fallout. And I think sometimes we wonder, could anything good ever come out of that? Is that chapter of my life just wasted? But here's the hope of the gospel. Only God can redeem the story. On Sunday, Pastor Chuck spent a lot of time talking about God is the only one that can change nature. And one of the things that he changes is, is the story involved in it. He doesn't just pull you out of the mess, he rewrites the narrative. In Genesis 50, verse 20, Joseph, after being sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned, forgotten for years, looked his brothers in the eyes and said, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done. Now, Joseph didn't deny the pain. He didn't pretend it was easy. But he had a bigger perspective that God doesn't waste pain. Instead, he weaves it into purpose. Romans 8:28 reminds us. And we know that in all all things, God works for the good of those that love Him. He doesn't say that all things are good, but in all things, God can work. That addiction, that divorce, that depression, they do not disqualify you. You're not the end of your story. In fact, they might just be the backdrop for God's redemption. That's what he specializes in. Bringing life from death, bringing beauty from ashes, bringing hope from despair. And that's why Revelation 21, verse 5 matters so much. It says, he who was seated on the throne said, I am making all things new, not some things, all things not. I might, but I am. And that includes the parts of your life that still sing. That includes the chapters you thought were closed forever. And so if it's not good yet, God's not done yet. So today I just want to encourage you to trust him with the whole story. Don't just trust him with the parts that are tidy and what we might call church appropriate. Bring him the messy parts to bring him the real parts. Because only God, I'm telling you, only God can redeem it all. And I hope that's an encouragement for you today. Well, if you're looking for more encouragement, more tools to see your story through God's eyes, check out the resource tab on easterinsugarhill.com you'll find next steps and other resources that we think are really, really helpful. And of course, visit eastern sugarhill.com the main tab, to find out all things that are coming up Easter Invite a friend. Invite somebody to come and be with you at one of our gatherings at 8am, 9:15, 11 or 5pm on Easter Sunday. And of course at 6:30pm for Maundy Thursday. Well, have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
