Does God Make Mistakes?

             Monday morning,  I made way into the doctor's office for an appointment for two of our children,  only to see my sister-in-law standing at the counter checking out. I couldn't have planned this even if I tried. She had planned to put together a meal for our family that day; she just wasn't sure how to get it to us. Carrie and Grace happily skipped off with her to play (while she made a meal for us), and we completed our doctor appointment, as well as shopping at Wal-mart. It was awesome how it worked out. The timing of it all right after the weekend with a sick baby was lovely. I felt like we had been touched by an angel.
                  You'd think after something that special that I'd be thrilled for the rest of the week, but I soon met more challenges. There were unanswered prayers rattling around in my brain that had me feeling disappointed. I was thinking things like, " God, I don't understand this." "God did you mess up? " It's funny that my reading for the day lead me to Luke 23. That's a chapter all about Jesus' crucifixion.  When I read about the women preparing the spices for His dead body, I felt their sorrow. The last verse stopped me in my tracks. It says, "Then they went back and made ready spices and ointments (perfumes). On the Sabbath day thy rested in accordance with the commandment." (This is the Amplified Version) These poor women had just witnessed the death of who they thought was the Messiah, and they couldn't even finish their work because it was approaching the Sabbath.  They were bound to follow the law that Christ had just fulfilled, but they didn't know He had fulfilled it...yet. They didn't know that this was their last Sabbath that would ever be celebrated in this manner,  but it was. They thought it was all over, but it was just beginning.  I could almost hear them wondering if God had made a mistake or if they had made a mistake thinking Jesus was the Christ.
          Life and death is seriously a mystery that only God understands. I was not a planned pregnancy.  Does that make me a mistake? My son was not a planned pregnancy either. Does that make him a mistake?  I was only ten when my dad became sick with cancer and died three years later. How is that fair or right?  19 years ago today, something happened to me that I believed was a mistake and hid for a long time (Read about that here). Does God make mistakes?  NO!
           I'm thankful that I was born (and I believe, my mom is thankful too). I'm thankful for my son's birth even though I didn't plan him. There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't make me smile or feel grateful for his presence. I don't understand my dad's death or everything bad that has happened to me, but it has made me who I am today. I am thankful for that.
            You may be wondering what in the world God is thinking right now because you can't understand it. I want to encourage you to hold tight and trust Him. This may feel like death right now, but your resurrection might be just around the corner.