Where Is God When I Make Mistakes?
Follows the message God Is Able from the Contenders series
If you've stumbled in your faith and wondered whether God is done with you, here is the short answer: He isn't. The God who saved you is the same God who keeps you. Your mistakes are real, but they don't loosen His grip. Your salvation never depended on your grip in the first place.
Key takeaways
- God does not give up on you when you stumble, because Jude 24 says He is able to keep you.
- Salvation begins in a moment, and God keeps working it out until He finishes what He started.
- Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning, so you follow Jesus because you already have His love.
- After you stumble, turn back to God quickly and rest in His grace instead of trying to earn your way back.
Does God give up on you when you stumble?
No. God is able to keep you, and He does. The short book of Jude spends most of its length warning believers about false teachers and urging them to hold on to the faith. But Jude can't finish without giving glory to the One who does the holding.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy
Jude 24
A doxology is a closing burst of praise like this one. Many New Testament letters end with one, the way we sign our name at the bottom of a letter. Jude's doxology reaches back to how the letter began. It is God who saved you, not you, and it is God who keeps you.
On Beyond Sunday, Pastor Sean Sloan put both sides together. There is a part you play, because you work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And there is a level at which you lean completely on God's grace.
Is salvation a one-time event?
Salvation begins in a moment, and God keeps working it out for the rest of your life. Theologians call this preservation. Preservation is the truth that the God who saved you is still saving you, and He will finish what He started when you are with Jesus.
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6
Pastor Landon Sloan, Calvary's kids pastor, shared an example that helps here. As a young leader, he has looked up to older pastors and thought, "I want to get to that level one day." Then he realized the people he admires are in the same place he is, kept by the grace of God. That, he said, is freeing. It was never about becoming someone. It's about being with Someone.
If grace saved you, why try to keep yourself?
You can't, and you don't have to. You were saved by grace through faith, not by your own works. Yet many believers live as if they told God, "Thanks for saving me. I'll take it from here."
Pastor Sean said it simply: we didn't find grace. Grace found us. And if you didn't save yourself, how could you keep yourself?
That doesn't make your effort meaningless. He quoted the Christian writer Dallas Willard. Willard said grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning. You still walk with God every day and say no to the flesh. You just don't do it to earn His love. You do it because you already have it.
What happens when a Christian makes a mistake?
You may stumble, but you are not cast out. Scripture is honest that God's people fall.
though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:24
Your standing with God doesn't rest on your record. The righteousness you have isn't your own. It's the righteousness of Christ. He took your sin so that you could become the righteousness of God in Him. When you trip up, you are still held in His hand, and no one can take you out of it.
Psalm 121 makes the same promise in different words. God will not let your foot slip. He watches over you and never sleeps. His eye is on you even when you aren't watching out for yourself. And you aren't left to pray your way back alone. The Spirit prays for you when you don't know how, and Christ intercedes for you before the Father.
What should you do after you stumble?
Turn back to God quickly, and rest in His grace instead of trying to earn your way back. Shame tells you to hide. Grace tells you to come close.
Calvary Kids teaches children this truth in a way adults need too. God is all powerful, and He is also a friend who walks with you and protects you. Pastor Landon put it this way: God doesn't pop in, save you, and leave. He keeps you because He is close. And as Pastor Sean added, God isn't only able to keep you. He will.
When you stumble, try this
- Confess it to God right away. Don't wait until you feel you've earned the right to come back.
- Read Jude 24 to 25 out loud, and thank God that He is the one who keeps you.
- Read Psalm 121 slowly and underline every time God watches over or keeps you.
- Ask yourself where you're trying to earn God's love, and choose to rest in His grace instead.
- Tell a trusted friend or small group leader, so you don't carry it alone.
Pray
Father, thank You that You found me and You keep me. When I stumble, hold me up. Teach me to rest in Your grace instead of trying to earn it, and finish the good work You started in me. Amen.
Common questions
Does God still love me when I make mistakes?
Yes. Scripture says the righteous may stumble, but the Lord upholds them with His hand. Your standing with God rests on Christ's righteousness, not on your performance.
What does Jude 24 mean?
Jude 24 means God is the one who keeps believers from stumbling away from Him and will present them before His glory with great joy. Your perseverance depends on His power and grace.
Is salvation a one-time event or ongoing?
Both. You are saved when you trust Christ, and God keeps working in you, carrying the good work He began to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
If grace keeps me, does my effort matter?
Yes. Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort. You still follow Jesus daily, but you do it from His grace, not to earn it.
Your next step
Want help taking your next step with God? Find your next step at Calvary, or see how Calvary Kids helps children know the God who keeps them.