But that's my point of view talking. I don't think that it's God's. Because God's way of thinking is different than ours. God is more loving and patient with us than we are with ourselves.
I think God thinks differently than we do because of one of Jesus' stories, about weeds and wheat. The master, God, has sowed good wheat in His field, but an enemy sows weeds all through the wheat and the weeds and wheat grow up together. The servants ask if they should pluck out the weeds, but the housekeeper says "no" because he does not want any wheat pulled out with the weeds. The separation will take place at the harvest. (Matthew 13:24-30.)
Some say that the field is our hearts, where good deeds (wheat) and flaws (weeds) flourish together - and they will, until the final harvest, our deaths. By that time, God will have patiently allowed our flawed, complex, contradictory, loving and sinful selves to flourish, knowing both weeds and wheat were necessary for our growth. Then at death He will gently allow us to reach perfection. But not until then.
Because God knows our story, and uses all of it to lead us in the right direction. If our hearts are good, God can and will work everything to our good. God sees our inner beauty. The point of every character, every event along the way, is to help us develop hearts of compassionate flesh instead of hearts of selfish stone.
That messy first marriage that ended in divorce? You learned about yourself from the experience, and perhaps you have beautiful children because of that relationship. Why are you ashamed about the time you had to declare bankruptcy? Maybe it was the best, most creative solution to keep your family's head above water. What about the time you lost your job? Did your family come closer together, sharing the load? Did you rethink what a job means in your life?
Maybe your bad times were and are so bad that your wounds still bleed easily. You have no idea how any good can come from this part of your story. Maybe you think you're no good. Worthless. Your life is so flooded with disaster that you need an Ark. Can you believe and trust that you only need to look inside yourself for that Ark? Because God lives inside you and you live inside God, safely enclosed, and God is the Ark of your strength. God is the One Who loves you and carries you continually through your whole story.
The great spiritual teacher, Henri Nouwen, believes we need to accept both the wheat and weeds inside us. He says "Over the years I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection.... Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the Sacred Voice that calls us the 'Beloved.'"
God asks that you allow every character, event, flaw and gift of your story to make you more compassionate. More forgiving of yourself and others. Not so quick to judge. Able to see both sides of everyone and everything, the bad and the good, because you know and admit to and accept the mixed weeds and wheat of your own heart. The more deeply you accept yourself, the more you will peacefully trust that your heart's story is an Epic Work of Beauty and that God will carry you, His precious Beloved, home with joy.