Acts 3:17-18

"Now brothers [and sisters], I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.  But this is how God fulfilled what God had foretold through all the prophets, saying that . . . Christ would suffer."

Reflection by Kenneth L. Samuel

How many times have we acted with passion but without a full understanding of what we were doing?  How many times have we insisted on playing by the rules and yet missed the whole point of the game?  How many times have we been completely convinced that we were right, only to discover that our rightness was based upon a partial or partisan understanding of the truth?

Sometimes the actions and attitudes we felt most deeply about at the time are the actions and attitudes we most deeply regret.  All of us have laundry lists of words and deeds that we desperately wish we could retract or delete.  If we'd only known then what we know now.  If we'd only not been so quick to jump to a conclusion and rush to judgment.  If we'd only realized how ignorant we were.

A few years ago I was pulled over by a policeman.  "Why am I being stopped?" I asked.  "You were speeding," came the response.  "I was only doing 40, and I come home this way all the time," I said.  "When school is in session, the speed limit drops to 25," the officer informed me.  "Well, I didn't know that," I said.  The officer responded: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

I'm not sure if ignorance of God's will for our lives is any kind of excuse in God's eyes, but I do know that God uses our ignorance to fulfill God's purposes.  In his indictment of the people for the murder of Jesus, the Apostle Peter clearly states that the people acted in ignorance.  Then Peter goes on to say that even the ignorance of the people regarding the execution of Jesus served as an instrument of divine purpose.  They killed Jesus in ignorance, but God used the death of Jesus to bring them salvation.

According to Romans 8:28, even our ignorance works for our good, as we love God and as we are called according to God's purpose.  The providence of God even employs and compensates for our ignorance.  Now that gives us much more reason to rejoice than to regret.

Prayer

God, today we rejoice in knowing that you have redeemed us, even in our ignorance.  We offer no excuses.  We proceed with humility and gratitude.  Amen. 

About the Author Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Stone Mountain, Georgia.