Big Mistakes, Huge Redemption

Lesson Three • The Promise to Return
Devotion 2: Big Mistakes, Huge Redemption
Alyssa Fairse 

At the age of 16, I was held for ransom. After a seven-month relationship with a 21-year-old guy who was a drug dealer, I ran away from home to be with him. Little did I know that he and his friend, Aaron, contacted my dad, asking him for $20,000 for my safe return home. My dad met Aaron in the parking lot of an outdoor shopping center. Right after my dad handed the money over to Aaron, the police came out and arrested him. Not long later, the police and my dad arrived at Aaron’s apartment, where I was being held. Aaron and everyone that was with him went to jail, and my dad took me home. Before we left, one of the police officers told my dad, “Since she is adopted, you have the right to put her back into foster care. It happens all of the time; people will adopt a child, realize they are too much to handle, and put them back into foster care.” 

When my dad and I got home that day, he did not yell, he did not punish me, and he did not even ask why I ran away. He told me he loved me and reminded me that there was nothing I could do to change that. In the weeks to follow, my mom and dad made a plan for us to go to family counseling. 

I am really glad my parents did not weigh my value solely based on the mistake I had made that day. They could have done exactly what that police officer told my dad to do: give me up. That day, I not only put myself in danger, but my dad as well. They did not deserve or need to put up with that, but still, they chose to. Instead of pushing me away and using my mistake as a reason to throw me back into the foster care system, they chose to show me the love of Christ. My dad not only laid himself down for my sake but continued to love me as his daughter. He did it even if I may not have deserved it. 

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 

As people, we are capable of messing up in big ways! Today, I want you to know that God’s redemption is way bigger than any mistake you or anyone else could ever make. Jesus can and will save you from any sin, error, or evil that has arisen in your life. John 3:18 tells us that anyone who believes in Jesus will not be condemned. All we need to do is confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and we will be saved (Romans 10:9).