When I make a mistake or see that I am not being the man God intends for me to be, I can be harder on myself than the Holy Spirit intends. The enemy is quick to pick up on the sweet smell of my defeated mindset and is eager to add to the plate. For a while, the difficult part was turning to God when I was being convicted and assaulted by the enemy. I perceived myself as unworthy to speak to Him due to my short comings. This, in itself, is me forgetting the Gospel. Without Jesus, I would never have a hope in gaining access to the Kingdom of Heaven. Learning that I was unknowingly operating in a way that limited the power of Jesus’ sacrifice was a big wake up call that I needed. But this is not the first time I have had to realign my life with the Gospel and I can see ahead that I have to keep myself on this narrow path which involves an occasional course adjustment. This renewed sense of direction showed me how God was using my recent stumbling blocks to get me back on the path but I couldn’t explain it. Today I was speaking with a brother when I felt a sense that the Holy Spirit had given me words.
Do not focus on the failure or how you can get out of it, but focus on what you can get out of the experience God walked you through.
When hearing this I am reminded that we all make mistakes and God knows we will make more. Without His love and grace, we would all be destined for eternal destruction. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and it is not our glory to claim. Jesus walks with us through the fire just like He did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3). If there is anything we should aim our efforts towards, it should be in trusting and learning from God. We should be acknowledging the amazing role He has had in our lives. We must draw strength by remembering that He has plans for us to prosper and His ways are higher than ours. We must grasp onto the fact that He does not plan to harm us but asks us to pick up our cross everyday and follow Him. We must see that in our suffering, God suffers with us and will save us. We must acknowledge that this suffering produces perseverance that changes our character. This leads us to hope all because of God’s love for us. It’s not about us but about Him. It’s about His plan for us.
Scripture references
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 63:9
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted,[c]
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Daniel 3: 19-25
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[e] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
The Agape Narrative Project 