Mistake?

Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night. 1 Sam 15:10-11

Ok, here we go again, one verse with so much to think about.

I think the first thought that comes into the mind of most is "Did God make a mistake?"

Did you think that?

I think it's important that you stop and think about that, because if you are not sure whether or not God makes mistakes we need to start there. If you don't know for sure you will be filled with so much doubt and you will probably become timid in your faith.

Here are my thoughts on this; there is a huge difference in grieving vs. making a mistake. I heard John Piper say it was like spanking my son for disobeying me and he runs away from home because I spanked him, yeah, I may grieve over the spanking - not in the sense that I made a mistake, but in the sense that I feel some sorrow that spanking was a necessary part of a wise way of dealing with the issue, and that it led to his running away. If I had it to do over again, I would still spank him. It was the right thing to do.

Did that change your thinking?

One of the toughest
leadership lessons I learned was letting people fail. That statement may have struck you as odd, your probably thinking aren't leaders supposed to help us succeed? Yes, but you can't be myopic, you have to have a big picture mentality. Think for a second, has your character been shaped more by your successes or your failures? I think most of us, if we are honest, would say from our failures, but we live in culture that failure isn't an option. To me that's sad, mainly because it causes us not to risk and step out in faith, to live with passion. Ok, I got off track.

Yes, God felt suffering and grief on our behalf, but that is not a sign of weakness or error, or regret of mistake.

Does your god make mistakes?

Mine doesn't, here is who He is:

Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.
   This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.
Remember your history,
   your long and rich history.
I am God, the only God you've had or ever will have—
   incomparable, irreplaceable—
From the very beginning
   telling you what the ending will be,
All along letting you in
   on what is going to happen,
Assuring you, 'I'm in this for the long haul,
   I'll do exactly what I set out to do,'
Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east,
   from a far country the man I chose to help me.
I've said it, and I'll most certainly do it.
   I've planned it, so it's as good as done. Isa 46:8-11 (MSG)