STUPID MISTAKES

“Stupid mistake” is a redundant phrase if there ever was one. There is no such thing as a “smart mistake”. Lots of highly intelligent people have made lots of stupid mistakes. According to some, the stupidest kind of stupid mistake is when the person who is making the stupid mistake “should have known better.” People who “should have known better” become people (according to the Perfect Ones) who have “made their bed and now have to lay in it.” ("lie"in it?)  You made your bed. Now lay in it and SHUT UP.

Which is why Psalm 107 is one of my favorites. It starts out by advising “the redeemed of the Lord” to do something. What does it tell them to do? “Tell their story!” This is the OPPOSITE OF SHUTTING UP. They are to TELL THEIR STORY.What story? The story of how “HE redeemed them from the hand of The Foe.” (v2). People like:

1. The Wandering Ones (v.4-7) They couldn’t find a place to settle, they are never a part of society. They never have a home. The outcasts. The losers. The unemployed. The drifters. They never had enough money. Or food. And their lives were “ebbing away.” To the world, these people didn’t only make mistakes - they WERE mistakes. WHEN THEY CRIED TO THE LORD IN THEIR DISTRESS - GOD HEARD THEM and DELIVERED THEM. And led them to a place to settle, to feel secure and cared for.
2. The Rebellious Ones. (v. 10-16). These people are the epitome of the “should have known better people.” They knew God’s commands and rebelled and despised His plans. As a result, they were in darkness. They sat as prisoners in chains. Their labor in life was bitter and difficult. They were getting what they deserved. But when they cried to the Lord in their distress, He saved them from utter darkness and BROKE AWAY THEIR CHAINS. He gave them what they did not deserve- FREEDOM AND LIGHT.
3. The Paying The Consequences of Sin Ones.(v. 17-22) These people had rebelled so completely that they become “fools” as in the “fool has said in his heart there is no God.” GOD? They never gave Him, His Law, His Will a thought. So completely did they disregard God that their choices caused their physical state to bring them to the “gates of death.” When they “cried to the Lord in their trouble” He sent His Word and HEALED THEM. He gave them what they did not deserve - HEALING AND LIFE.
4. The Storm Survivors.(v. 23-32) These people didn’t make any mistakes, but as they went about their lives they hit a ferocious storm. The mistake they COULD HAVE MADE is to think that God had abandoned them in the storm. They cried out to the Lord and He “stilled the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”

No matter the storm, no matter the consequences, no matter the dark days our mistakes bring us, 

the stupidest mistake we can ever make is to think that any stupid mistake disqualifies us from calling out to the Lord. 

He will hear and He will deliver.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story -

those He redeemed from the hand of the foe...” Psalm 107:1-2

(Feel free to share your story of how the Lord has redeemed you.)

foe...” Psalm 107:1-2

(Feel free to share your story of how the Lord has redeemed you.)