“You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope not!”
Galatians 3:4 (ICB) The Bible is filled with principles to help you resume life successfully after a tough season. Extract the lessons you learned. Before you rush off and start a bunch of new things after going through a difficult time, God wants you to pause and consider the lessons you learned. Don’t let all the pain you went through be wasted. Take time to glean the spiritual truths from everything you’ve experienced. The Bible says, “You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope not!” (Galatians 3:4 ICB) One way to be sure you don’t waste your hard experiences is to write down each lesson you’ve learned. That way you can review them later to share with other generations. What happens when you do this? The suffering you went through will suddenly have incredible value. Deuteronomy 4:9 says, “You must be very careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourselves, and tell your children and grandchildren as well” (CEV). You might consider getting alone by yourself in a quiet place—just you and a journal. This could be your life journal. A life journal isn’t a diary of each day’s activities. Future generations won’t be interested in what you did; they’ll be interested in what you learned. Here are some questions you can answer in your life journal: What did I learn about what matters most? What did I learn about what matters least? What did I learn about my weaknesses? What did I learn about my strengths? What did I learn about my relationships? What did I learn about my pace of living? What did I learn about God? What did I learn about the world and the culture around me? What did I learn about money? What did I learn about happiness? Remember: Before you do a life reset after a season of crisis, loss, or trauma, write down all the lessons you’ve learned. Then you won’t “forget the things you have seen God do for you”—and you will never have to learn those lessons again.
0 Comments
“Happy are the people whose God is the LORD.”
Psalm 144:15 (CSB) God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. The Bible says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV). But many people are spiritually lost. This means they’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan. Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. In fact, all humans are this way. You don’t intend to get lost. You just think, “That grass looks greener over there.” And soon you follow your own way and lose your direction. Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away from their shepherd, you too are vulnerable when you don’t have a shepherd to protect you from the wolves of life. That’s why you need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, you are alone and defenseless—and you lose God’s protection. The Bible also says, “My people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2 NLT). But when you place yourself under the Good Shepherd’s care, you get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean you will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28 BSB) Your potential to do good things in the world is dramatically limited when you’re disconnected from God. God made you to do great things, far greater than you could possibly imagine. In fact, if God showed you what he wants to do with your life when you completely place it in his hands, it would astound you! The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT). The spiritually lost not only lose their direction, protection, and potential, but they also lose their happiness. When you’re in harmony with God, it gives you the peace you need to be in harmony with others, making you a happier person. But when you’re disconnected from God, you’re often disconnected from others—and unhappy. We see this happen in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. It’s about a young man who left his father, taking his inheritance with him and wasting it on careless living. Luke 15:14 says, “He spent everything he had . . . and he was left without a thing” (GNT). His recklessness had left him lonely and miserable. The truth is, nothing destroys happiness faster than conflict in a relationship. So, when the young man had a conflict with his dad, it created a strained relationship. This led to resentment, guilt, and regret. This story reminds us of how unhappy we are when we’re in conflict with our heavenly Father. We weren’t designed to live disconnected from God. That’s why thumbing our nose at him and going our own way never works. But the moment we say, “God, I’m tired of living the way I’ve been living,” he runs out to meet us. He takes the initiative. He even celebrates, like the father did with his prodigal son: “Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him . . . We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life” (Luke 15:22-24 NLT). Maybe you’re saying, “I used to feel close to God, but I don’t feel close to him anymore, and I’ve lost my happiness.” Remember: God didn’t move; you moved. He’s the unmovable. Know that God sees you as extremely valuable and wants you to return to him. And when you do, he will be “filled with love and compassion” (Luke 15:20 NLT), like the father with his prodigal child. Returning to your heavenly Father and being in right relationship with him is the only way to true joy and happiness! “When you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up the faith of your brothers.”
Luke 22:32 (TLB) When you’re in the middle of a failure, it can seem like nothing good will ever come from it. But God can always bring good from your failures. In fact, your worst failure can become your greatest success. If you let him, God will use your failures to build his church! Jesus told Peter in Luke 22:32, “When you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up the faith of your brothers” (TLB). Before Peter had even failed, Jesus gave him a vision of how God could use his failure for good. After Peter’s failure (when he denied Jesus three times), Jesus died and then was resurrected. And when he and Peter met again on a seashore, Jesus reminded Peter of how good could come from his failure. Here’s how the conversation went: “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:15-17 NIV). Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Why did he ask that three times? He was giving Peter the opportunity to make up for the three times he had denied Jesus. And each time, Jesus gave Peter another way he could use his failure for good: “Feed my lambs.” “Take care of my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.” On the same night that Peter had denied Jesus, another disciple, Judas, also failed Jesus. But, ultimately, Judas chose to become a traitor to Jesus, while Peter chose to become a teacher and a leader of Jesus’ church. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (NLT). God is building his church on people who’ve failed. In fact, God only uses failed people—because there aren’t any perfect people! What are you going to become from your failure? It’s your choice. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) Failure can be isolating. When you’re in the middle of a failure, you often feel ashamed and just want to be alone. But Jesus is with you always, even in your greatest failure. To help you through your failures, Jesus does three incredible things: Jesus prays for you. Even before Peter had failed, Jesus told him, “I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail” (Luke 22:32 NASB). Even at this very moment, Jesus is interceding—praying—for you. The Bible says, “He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf” (Hebrews 7:25 NLT). Jesus believes in you. In fact, he expects you to heal and recover. That’s why he told Peter before his big failure, “When you have repented and turned to me again . . .” (Luke 22:32 TLB). Jesus knew Peter would sin and fail and eventually come back to him. The truth is that we all fail, and we fail repeatedly. Your biggest weaknesses are habitual. You don’t just do them one time and that’s it. You do them over and over. But God isn’t there just for the big, one-time mess-up. He’s there for the mistakes you make over and over again. Though you fail repeatedly, God will always believe in you. Jesus shows you mercy. Jesus is more willing to show mercy than you’re willing to ask for it. When you’re down, Jesus doesn’t beat you up or add to your guilt. Instead, he saves you. In John 21, just weeks after Peter had denied Jesus, Peter and some other disciples went fishing. Though they fished all night, they caught nothing. At dawn, Jesus called to them from the shore and told them where to throw their nets. “So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it” (John 21:6 NLT). When Peter followed Jesus’ instructions, he caught more fish than he could possibly handle. Jesus is ready to do the same for you. He can do more in five minutes of your life than you can do in 50 years of planning. Here’s more good news: God’s mercy toward you is not dependent on your performance. The Bible says in Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (ESV). Friend, you may give up on God, but he’s never going to give up on you. Jesus is praying for you, believes in you, and will always show you mercy. No matter what you do, God is faithful. “Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Matthew 26:74-75 (CSB) When you experience failure, sometimes it feels like you’ll never recover. But you will. Whether you’ve experienced failure in finances, marriage, career, or something else, you can recover. Recovery starts with grieving your failure. Don’t minimize it or pretend it didn’t happen. Don’t rush to try to feel better. Instead, take the time to feel the pain. This highlights an important life principle: To get past it, you’ve got to go through it. That’s true in so many areas of life, but it’s particularly true with failure. Grief is the way to go through the failure. When you fail, you just want to forget it, to stuff your emotions and quickly go to the next thing. But that’s a mistake. Grief is the way you learn failure’s lessons. When you swallow your emotions instead of going through them, your stomach keeps score. It’s like taking a can of soda, shaking it up, and putting it in the freezer. It’s eventually going to explode! Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, experienced the grief of failure firsthand. In a time of crisis, he denied that he even knew Jesus, and that failure led to deep grief. The Bible says, “Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:74-75 CSB). Imagine how disappointed Peter must have felt. He had walked alongside Jesus, watching him teach, do miracles, heal people, raise the dead, and offer mercy and forgiveness over and over again. Yet the first time he was put to the test about his commitment to Jesus, he denied him three times in a row. But instead of ignoring his failure, Peter did the right thing: He was humble and regretful. He owned up to his failure and grieved—and that’s the key to healing. Many people want to take shortcuts when they have a failure. They want to bypass the affair and pretend it didn’t shatter their marriage, so they rebound into another relationship. Or they pretend it was someone else’s fault the business failed and start another one the next day. They simply never learn the lesson. But there is no shortcut to grieving and recovering from failure. The greater the failure in your life, the more time it’s going to take to heal. Let God work in your heart. You can’t force healing. Recovery is an act of God’s mercy, and it will come in time. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
|