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- You're the Best!
- Stay Very Very Still
- The Grace We Need (Not The Grace We Want)
- Isn't It Nice to Know that the Lining Is Silver?
- What Part Do I Play?
- How Do I Love Those Who Have Hurt Me?
- I Bet You Can Hardly Contain Yourself
- Running on Empty
- A Purpose For The Pain
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Fail!
Have you ever had one of those days when you begin reflecting on what you've done. This can be in your school career, your time as an athlete, in your job, etc. And, as you reflect what has happened in your time doing whatever, you feel like a complete failure. Something begins whispering in your ear: "What have you really done?" or "What hope is there in continuing to try? Look at all that you've tried and how little it has done." Have you ever felt hopeless? Have you ever experienced that nagging feeling that begins to sink all of the joy and excitement you once experienced? When was the last time you felt like this? What was going on? Why did you feel this way?
Isn't it amazing how one day of hell can make you forget about 364 days of God's presence? I have been feeling this way for the last couple days. As I reflected on my time at CFC I began to think about how I have failed and I have fallen short. However, this morning something hit me. Notice the focus of my disappointment: it's me. Why is this so important? Because my ministry has nothing to do with me. This hit me as I was reading Romans 5 this morning, read along:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
What is the first thing you try to do when you are feeling like a failure? If you're like me, then you search for something to reaffirm your abilities. However, no matter what you do, almost all of us seek for a place to place our feet so we can stand up again. Imagine walking along the beach on those slippery, moss covered rocks. You carefully pick your footing step after step. However, you finally miss the mark and you step on a super slippery one and you fall. Your next move is to find something to put your feet on that you can stand up and move on. Paul is giving us ground to stand on in our failure and in our success, read the second sentence again: "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand..." It is God's grace on which we stand. It is His goodness, His power, and His sovereign control over everything that allows us to stay firm and endure. That is why Paul says we can "...rejoice in our sufferings..." Because as we endure and suffer we learn to lean more and more on the only sure footing out there: God's grace. So, if you feel like a failure today in any area of your life, if you feel like you've fallen short in any way, then you are blessed. Because God is inviting you to plant your foot firmer on His sustaining eternal grace. Join me, as I journey towards planting myself in the center of our God's goodness.
posted by Skylar # 1:50 PM 