“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6 (ESV)
I crawled into bed with a smile. Everything was carefully planned out. Tomorrow was going to be great! I was going to get up extra early to exercise before church. Nothing was going to stop me.
Or so I thought…
In all my planning, I had left out a significant detail. I forgot to set the alarm on my phone. Instead of rising early, I woke up late. There was no way I was going to squeeze a workout in. I would have to run around like a madwoman just to get the kids and me to church on time.
By the time we made it to church, I had managed to make one kid cry and the other one angry. It was not the morning I had in mind. Instead of starting the day off right, I felt like I couldn’t do anything right. I wondered, “How could God use someone who couldn’t get it together?” All I wanted to do was go back to bed, pull the covers over my head and start over.
Learn from your mistakes, but don’t let them define you. –Tweet this!
God doesn’t hold our mishaps against us.
Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that His love and mercy never ends. They aren’t going to suddenly run out if we mess up. God isn’t going to quit on us because we forgot to do something, nor is He going to forsake us because we had a bad day. God loves us, and because of that love, He will continue to perfect us until the work he began in us is complete.
There will always be crummy days, but we don’t have to let them define us. We can choose to see our mistakes, mishaps, and shortcomings as opportunities to grow.
Can God use us despite our mess? Yes, He can! We will never be perfect—we will always make mistakes. But Jesus is perfect (1 Pet. 1:18-19; 2:22 ; 1 John 3:5; Heb. 4:15; 2 Cor. 5:21). When we allow Him to fill in our gaps and work through our mistakes, others will be able to see His love and mercy shine through us. All we have to do is run to Him and allow him to do the work in us that only He can do.
Prayer:
“Lord, we thank you that your love and mercies never end. Your word tells us that you will complete the work you began in us (Philippians 1:6). May we always have a heart that is willing to be molded and perfected by you. Please help us to see our shortcomings as opportunities to grow. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!”
Digging Deeper:
Are you in a mistake-making rut? If you’re not in one now, chances are you’ve found yourself in a mistaking-making-rut at some point in your life. Click Here to read Five Things to Remember & 25 Bible Verses to Reflect On when you feel like you can’t do anything right.
Thank you for following along today. I hope you are encouraged to see life’s little mishaps as growth opportunities. ~Kelly
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Weekly Linkups
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