I have a confession to make. I didn’t complete my challenge for this
week.
As I considered what to do, a few thoughts came to mind:
I just won’t write and hopefully no one will notice… I should’ve started
a week earlier to give myself enough time… Well, I do have a lot going on in my
life right now… Is there anything I did this week that could pass for a Tuesday
challenge?
This is a little more of a light-hearted example, but it got me thinking
about failure and how I deal with it. I can try to hide my mistakes, I can
justify them, I can ignore them, or I can confess and admit that I don’t have
it all together.
Even if I don’t get everything finished that I want to do (which I’ve
noticed happens a lot since I’ve become a mom) and even when I fail to follow
through on a commitment, there is grace for me at the cross. My identity has
never been in what I accomplish myself; it has always been what Jesus Christ
did for me on the cross.
There’s so much freedom in this truth. Not only does it free me to be
honest with myself (and others) about my failures, it allows me to come to
Jesus and ask for His strength to live out what He has called me to.
Take some time today and be honest with God about the ways you feel like
you have not measured up—whether it’s unmet goals and expectations for this summer
or some other area of your life. I’d also encourage you to share these areas
with a friend. I can’t tell you how many times God has used another person in
my life to help His Word move from an abstract, distant truth to a reality that
transforms my heart.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another,
that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it
is working.
James 5:16
I’m praying that we’d allow God to work in us, in our triumphs as well
as our failures.