Close to the end of the film Galaxy Quest, the ship captain made a desperate decision to activate the mysterious Omega 13 device after a disastrous strike destroyed almost his entire crew. Nobody knew exactly what the Omega 13 would do. Some asserted it would collapse the universe in 13 seconds. Others theorized it would rearrange matter to a state 13 seconds in the past, just enough time to redeem a single bad decision. Fortunately for the crew, the second interpretation was correct and the device saved the day.
Ever have a time you wished there were an undo button in life? I remember a few of those. I drove our newest car to the foothills one afternoon. A sudden storm came up and I noticed hail, so I attempted to outrun the storm. Before I knew it, golf-ball-sized missiles were disfiguring my once-perfect car. I sheltered under a bridge with dozens of others, but had thousands of dollars in damage already. I’d have undone that outing.
Another decision I’d have gladly reversed was when my bike started wobbling as I rode past my daughter’s car the year before last. In my determination to avoid scratching her car, I fell onto the pavement hard and fractured my elbow, which took over a year to heal. I’d have preferred to fix the car if I had that to do over again!
Two others occurred this past Saturday. I dropped Carrie off at the airport in what normally would have been sufficient time for someone not checking bags. The security lines were unusually long that morning, though, and I later learned she’d missed her flight, which had left early! The airline took no responsibility and had no other flights that day, so she canceled the trip. Before she got back home two hours later, I was feverishly working on a landscaping project, applying all my might to pulling out a spike securing two 6×6 landscape timbers. The crowbar slipped off and momentum threw me backwards into the edge of a wheelbarrow. That injury took me out for the weekend, and I am still very sore from the blow. Had we known, we’d have gotten to the airport earlier, and I’d have gone more slowly and been more judicious in how I approached my project.
There is no undo button in life. But for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, scripture promises that God causes all things to work together for their good (Romans 8:28). None of these things we experienced were good, nor were they caused by God. But God is good, and is able to bring good out of any situation. We may not feel great about our circumstances at the time but rather than bemoaning negative situations, we can thank Him that He’ll redeem our setbacks. He did this time and again in Scripture and we know He will do so for us as well because He is faithful to His Word.
Thank you, JB, for your reflections. I’m always cognizant that there’s no “undo” button for all the unwise choices we make in life. Thank God for His unending mercy and grace!! And thank Him for showing us how to extend that same forgiving attitude toward all those imperfect people around us (including ourselves!) and for giving us hope that in the end, all will be well.