Things Done and Left Undone: Grace, Failure, and Beginning Again
While spontaneously recording a recent Malachi Moment with Billy during our morning devotional time together, I opened Wrestling with Wisdom at the Crossroads to a poem titled Things Done and Left Undone. I read the poem aloud, then turned the camera toward Billy and asked what his poem meant to him.
What followed was unscripted.
There was a pause. A moment of reflection.
Then Billy began sharing what the poem meant to him and how it speaks to the tension between our shortcomings and the grace that allows us to begin again.
Watch the Reflection
Things Done and Left Undone
Things done and left undone
Would be my undoing
If not for the Grace of God
I would lie in ruin
To be forgiven, due to Love
Love, not of my doing
Freely, yet costly, given
Redeeming my undoing
To lose the weight and lightly walk
Into Life illuminated
I shed my sin, begin again
Life anew, ’til again I sin
Yet when I sin once again
Vicariously benefiting from
What God, Himself, wrought in blood
Undoing what I have done.
A Moment of Reflection
Why do we do the things we know we should not do?
Why do we fail to do the things we know we should?
The Apostle Paul wrestled with the same question centuries ago.
The poem recognizes that reality. It speaks not only of the things we have done wrong, but also of the things left undone. The opportunities missed, the responsibilities neglected, the moments when we fall short of who we hope to be.
Yet the poem is not ultimately about failure! It is about grace.
One line in particular stands out:
“Freely, yet costly, given, redeeming my undoing.”
Those words capture a paradox at the heart of the Christian faith. Grace is freely given, yet it came at a tremendous cost.
The poem also reminds us that the journey of faith is not one of instant perfection. We stumble. We learn. We begin again.
And sometimes we begin again once more.
What About You?
What thoughts does this poem stir in you?
Have there been “things done and left undone” that have shaped your own journey?
We invite you to watch the video above and join us in reflecting on the grace that makes beginning again possible. Praise God!
—Madge
This reflection is part of our ongoing Malachi Moments series inspired by Wrestling with Wisdom at the Crossroads by Malachi Montroy (Chilly Billy Howell).
If you enjoy these reflections, we invite you to subscribe to the Delta Bohemian YouTube channel and follow the Malachi Moments playlist as it continues to grow. We also encourage you to share a Malachi Moment with a friend. After all, some of the best conversations begin with a simple question.