Why we need to come to Jesus when we mess up

In response to an article on prayer, a bright young woman wrote me, “Sometimes I feel that I need to talk to Jesus but then I think the reason I got into trouble was all my fault and I should face the music and not bother Jesus about it.”

I admired her refreshing honesty and her willingness to take responsibility for her actions. But as noble as it seems, this is not what God wants us to do. He’s longing to hear from us – especially when we’ve messed up.

When my son Jonathan, a very young and inexperienced driver, announced that he was going to drive himself and his two high school buddies to Disneyland in Los Angeles, a distance of over 3,000 kilometers from our home in southern B.C., I pled with him not to go so far.

“What if you’re in an accident down there? What if your old Nissan breaks down?”

My son waved my worries aside and left. Three days later a stranger phoned from Los Angeles. “Your son rear-ended me,” he said. “The boys are all right, but the car is pretty banged up.”

Great! A banged-up car and no money for repairs, I thought. Every day I waited for Jonathan to call me. If only he would phone me, I could reassure him. I could wire him money for repairs. But he didn’t call. After an agonizing week that seemed like a year, my son sauntered into our kitchen.

“Why didn’t you call?” I blurted.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” he answered.

Although his intentions were good, what I really wanted was for my son to call me when in trouble. Can you imagine how God, our Father who loves His children much more than we do ours, feels when we don’t call Him, when we don’t come to Him?

An invitation

One of the sweetest words in the Bible is “Come.”

The invitation is to people who’ve messed up: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

The invitation is to people who haven’t got it all figured out. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus says (Matthew 11:28).

The invitation is “Come now, just as you are.” We can tell God exactly what we’ve done wrong and how we feel about it: “I’m sorry, Jesus. I really messed up this time. It’s my fault.”

Forgiveness

What do you think Jesus will say? I hear Him saying the same words that He said to the woman caught in adultery, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” He washes away our sin and gives us power to make a new start.

We’re often very hard on ourselves when we’ve messed up. I did it AGAIN! I’m so stupid. I’m no good. I’m a failure. I’ll never change, we think. These discouraging voices are not from God. The voice of God makes us feel we can triumph over our failures. He gives us the ability to forgive ourselves.

Restoration

God also helps us face the consequences of our actions and make things right if we’ve wronged someone.

To Armin, stealing had become an exciting game. He could not leave a store without taking something. He stole over $1000 worth of merchandise and nobody ever found out. After Armin turned his life over to Jesus Christ, he began to go to church and to read his Bible. But still he didn’t feel close to God.

One day He heard God saying, “Going to church won’t make it better. I hate sin. You must get rid of the sin in your life.” Armin stopped drinking, smoking, and sleeping around. He knew he should go back to the stores he had robbed, but he was terrified. He didn’t have $1000 to pay for the merchandise. They’ll throw me in jail, he thought. Still, he knew that if he wanted to walk with God, he would have to go back. He enlisted two friends to pray for him. Then he approached the managers of the stores he had robbed. He offered to work or to make payments in installments. One manager forgave his debt. Eventually, he had worked out a settlement with every manager.

“When I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I knew God had forgiven my sin,” Armin said, “but going back to the stores and making it right made my forgiveness even more real. I felt free and close to God for the first time.”

To the young lady who wrote me and to all of us who’ve messed up, God’s message is this: Come to Jesus now. He longs to hear from us and to help us.

Helen Grace Lescheid, who attends the South Abbotsford MB Church, has published numerous articles and two books: Lead, Kindly Light and Treasures of Darkness. She has five grown children and three grandchildren.