03/09/2022 Principal's Note

By -
Think back over the course of your life, and I'll bet you can find an instance where the cliché "hindsight is 20/20" applies. The gist of that statement is that it's easy to look at moments in the past and critique how things were handled. Need some examples? "Looking back, I probably shouldn't have tried to make it the rest of the trip on 1/16 of a tank of gas." "Now that I think about it, tearing off the entire roof without checking the weather forecast was not a good idea." "Visiting the humane society after touring the Tyson plant wasn't one of my best choices." Okay, so these aren't really serious examples, but you get the idea.

I wonder how many situations you can think of over the last couple of years, serious situations, where this saying applies? How many relationships were broken over the pandemic? How many knee-jerk reactions by individuals and by organizations caused suffering? How many times did people with all different opinions and beliefs behave selfishly? Yeah...hindsight is 20/20, and we all made mistakes while navigating uncharted waters. If we are honest with ourselves, we can all come up with at least one moment we would love to go back and handle differently over the past two years.

The point I am trying to make is that, as sinful human beings, we have regrets. Thank God that he doesn't! Our heavenly Father doesn't experience situations where hindsight is 20/20, because he has perfect vision at all times. For him, foresight is 20/20. Look at what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time" (2 Timothy 1:9, NIV 2011). Look at the second sentence. Before God even created the world, the universe, he knew what was going to happen. His plan of salvation precedes even the sins that necessitate it. How amazing! He has seen this movie, from beginning to end, and, SPOILER ALERT, Jesus wins and so do we. That's why, despite all of our regrets that our 20/20 hindsight shows us, God will say the same thing to all of his children when they meet him face-to-face: "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21, NIV 2011)! 

Take the rest of this week and your child's Spring Break next week and, instead of looking back at regrets and missed opportunities, look at the now and the chances God is giving you to live a life of thanks for his Son's sacrifice. Start by joining us today at 3:30 or 7:00 at Emanuel to hear about Jesus' suffering for our sake. You won't regret it!

In Christ,

Principal Bill Fuerstenau