Failure

       No one wants to start their day thinking “Woohoo, today I’m gonna fail at this or that”.  We plan for success at our tasks, but at the end of the day, sometimes we have failed to achieve what we planned for.  Sometimes we have failed someone we love, or failed to live up to our own standards, and where do we go from there?

       Certainly the enemy of our soul would love to use any device against us to stop us from moving forward in God’s plan for our lives.  “…because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour;” (1Pt. 5:8) and his ultimate desire is to destroy our soul: “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy…” (Jh. 10:10)   And so if we allow him, the enemy will use our failures against us. 

Satan will use our own thoughts against us to pull us away from God.  “God doesn’t want to hear from me because I’ve failed Him once again! L”

Satan will use others to make us feel powerless to continue on.  “You’re such a screw-up.  You never do anything right”

Satan will use situations to make us feel like failures.  No money in the bank, unmarried daughter gets pregnant, another child taking drugs, and spouse is cold.

       The problem with us is our humanity.  We are human (not God) and therefore we make mistakes.  If we allow those mistakes to keep us from doing what we need to in life, then that is true failure.  I have made many wrong decisions as a wife and have had to deal with the consequences and figure out how to right the wrongs.  I’ve also made mistakes in parenting, some which I deeply regret, but I don’t let them hold me back from continuing to parent and trying to do better.  Failure is not the ‘bad’ thing- failing to learn, continue on and try to improve is!  How do we deal with failure?

Pray for forgiveness over our own failures.

Be humbled before the Lord, and He will lift you up.  Jm. 4:10

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1Jh. 1:9

Know God will help.

In the day when I cried You answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul.  Ps. 138:3

Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.  Is. 41:10

…God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Ps. 46:1

Look to Jesus.

…I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where shall my help come from? My help comes from Jehovah, who made Heaven and earth.  Ps. 121:1,2

Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith,  Heb. 12:1,2

Find comfort, hope and wisdom in Scriptures.

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, so that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.  Rom. 15:4

For Jehovah gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.  Pr. 2:6 

Remember

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Php. 4:13 

…My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.  2Cor. 12:9

But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.  Rom. 8:37

(We gain a surpassing victory through the one who loved us.)

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,  Php. 1:6

Such a Cool God !!!

       The best way to say something is awesome. Superior, desirable, worthy of approval.

       Refers to something that is very good, stylish, or otherwise positive.

       When someone is "cool" they are popular, suave, and you like them.

       Okay, no giving me grief over using a slang (no disrespect intended) term to describe our God, but really, He is just so cool.  This morning I had the opportunity to talk to an amazing woman for over two hours- and we talked a lot about God, life, and God in our lives.  I love that kind of conversation and I so rarely get to enjoy it because a lot of people are more interested in other things.  It is especially encouraging to hear how much someone else loves and is enthusiastic about the Lord.

       Back to the start- I pedaled my bike to church for 8:30am because I wasn’t sure what time my library shift was only to find out it started at 10 am.  I decided to get a hot chocolate and sit in the café for a while to read when I saw this lady was there as well.  We sat together and had great conversation.  It is wonderful to feel that connection in Christ with another person and be able to spend some time with them.  The Lord knew I needed that kind of fellowship today and He provided for it.  He’s awesome!

 …And they were continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship…  Ac. 2:42

And let us continue to consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer. (G3870- invite, invoke, exhort, comfort, intreat, pray)  Heb. 10:24,25 (ISV)

Therefore comfort one another, and edify one another, even as you also do.  1Th. 5:11 (G3619- build up, embolden- encourage, vitalize)

      So, did you notice that we shouldn’t have been able to speak so long?  I did, right after my hubby showed up for second service and asked why I wasn’t in the library.  Oops, I forgot!  The conversation was so good, that I completely failed to remember why I was there early.  Not so good. L  (I am still pretty tough on myself for memory issues, but, well, God could always choose to heal me J hint, hint!)  Anyway, the Lord provided someone to cover my shift, so it’s all good.  And the fellowship was priceless!

       Lord, You are so awesome, and I really appreciate all You do for us.  You are so much more than I ever imagined You would be.  Thank You, thank You, thank You!

Send

       I don’t think I’ve ever been an overly anxious person, but today I figured out there is something I get a little anxious about every time.  It involves clicking the button.  Most often it is the send button when I am composing an email, and when I hesitated for the 8^th time this morning only to reread the text again, it dawned on me, this is what I often do.

       So the first thing I did is question if this is perfectionist issues rising up again and decided it was not.  With emails it is more of a concern that I stated what I needed to clearly for others to understand and a concern that I might be misunderstood based on how I said something.  How weird is that?  I wonder if there are others who think this way…

       Still, when I consider my past, I remember other times I couldn’t click the button.  This one time I had gone online to buy a computer and I had chosen everything we wanted in it, was on the page where I could see the total cost and inputted my payment card numbers, and then I couldn’t do it.  As much as I knew we needed it, we could afford it, and with all the research I’d done to make sure it was what we needed, I placed the cursor over the purchase button and stopped.  Though I felt like an idiot, I couldn’t make myself press the button; my hubby had to come do it for me!

Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.  Is. 41:10

I sought Jehovah, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  Ps. 34:4

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Php. 4:6-7

       So now I’m thinking I need to start praying about the situation.  Some people might think- oh, it’s just a little issue, why bother God with it, but the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear (2Tm. 1:7) and since His perfect love casts out fear (1Jh. 4:18), I’m sure He’d rather us trust Him in all of the little things in life, not just the big ones.  Besides, when my young daughter used to go to her dad and tell him she needed help even in ‘little things’, he was always willing and happy to do it.

       And the Scriptures above indicate He will make us strong when we are too weak to do what we need to do.  If we seek Him and request for His help, He will give us the strength and peace we need to do the things we find tough- even if they seem so silly.  So, I determine to stop rereading so many times.  I will allow one reread, and then I will pray for God’s help and click send knowing that He will use all things for good somehow even if it is just using me to teach others patience!!!  Now, if only I remember to pray…

(yep, I just need to remember...

     I actually forgot to blog the past couple days until it was too late in the day- oops J)