Leave it to a book to inspire a blog post.

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You can’t change what path you’re on. You can only change what you do next.

Jonas, Winning the Gentleman, Kristi Ann Hunter

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Kristi is probably like, out of all the possible inspirational quotes, this is the one you choose??

Haha, yeah.

Perhaps a lot of things come to mind when you read this quote. For me, I see regret in past choices that brought you here. Why did I do that? Maybe you feel lost in your current situation. What do I do? Get me out of here.

Something else that I keep coming back to in every circumstance is just the absolute sovereignty of God. I’ve said it in every post I feel like… but it’s true! Whatever brought you where you are – whether by your choices or circumstances or whatever it is – God has been sovereign through it all. None of it was outside His control.

Though I read this book a while back, months ago, I typed this up right after I read that line and kept coming back to finish the post, probably because I’m so busy reading all the time to post coherent thoughts. Perhaps God prevented me from typing this until I got to this past week’s BSF lesson also…

This past week, we read and discussed the events immediately before Jesus was crucified. God still held people accountable, even though the events had been a part of His plan from the beginning. Those people and groups of people still had choices and they chose to deny Him.

We discussed the difference between Peter and Judas. After Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, what did he do? Peter realized what happened once he heard the rooster. He wept bitterly, filled with regret and the knowledge that Jesus knew, yet… Jesus looked at Him with love. In that, Jesus gave an example of how we should respond to those who have gone astray, made sinful choices. (Matthew 26)

Compare that with Judas, who after seeing Jesus condemned, tried to give back the silver coins he was given for His capture. He sought out forgiveness, but failed to recognize that only Jesus was the only way to forgiveness. Instead of turning and seeing that ahead of him, Judas hung himself and succumbed to a life of sin, ending in death with no resurrection. (Matthew 27)

In the end, when we do go our own way, fall into sin, up until our last breath, we still have a chance to make better, God-centered choices. What you do next matters.

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So thank you, Kristi Ann Hunter for your inspirational novels and how you always seem to bring in God’s Word and truth into your work.

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Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21