God doesn’t give the hardest battles to His toughest soldiers, He creates the toughest soldiers out of life’s hardest battles.
Unkown
Dear Believer,
You may have heard the words of that beloved hymn, “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” As I look back at my years of walking with the LORD, I can definitely relate. Maybe you can too. We love the Lord, but we forget, get distracted, or just ignore His commands. Yet, when we do, He brings us back in a gentle way and plants us back to our place on the course. So if you are prone to wander, as many of us are inclined to do, remember that God saved you for a reason. He didn’t save us and let us go. He chose us to keep us and sustain us till the end. Yes, we mess up. But He doesn’t leave us there. He speaks to us through His word to remind us:
Firstly, of the outcome of confession.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from uncleaness and from your idols I will cleanse you. Ezekiel 36:25
We fail. But God has given a solution. This is the first step to move forward. Confess to God of the wandering and of the sins you have committed. Then, you will be forgiven and cleansed. He reminds us that we have been made clean, we are already forgiven, and are redeemed. The price Christ paid on the cross is enough to forgive us every single time. His blood covers every single sin.
Second, He reminds us of the truth to combat the lies and half-truths our own mind and the enemy throws at us within those moments.
“I’m a failure”
“I will never learn”
“I think He made a mistake when He chose me.”
The truth is yes, I am weak, but He is strong 2 Cor. 12:9-11
The truth is, apart from him, I can do nothing John 15:5
The truth is, I will never grow as I ought on my own, but He “always causes us to triumph in Christ and reveals the fragrance of his knowledge through us in every place” 2 Cor. 2:14
The truth is, He lovingly chose me specifically because I am foolish and weak “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” 1 Cor. 1:27-29
So yes, I am a failure without Him.
I am weak without Him.
I am stagnant without Him
And that is the good that happens when we mess up. We get to see our desperate need for Him. Our need for His goodness, righteousness, strength, wisdom, and mercy. We humble ourselves, cry out to Him, pray, and cling to Him in those moments. We realize we absolutely cannot function without our good Father. We cannot be what He wants us to be without the work of Christ and his empowering Spirit.
Third, He picks us up.
The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14
Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. Psalm 37:24
….and sets us back on course with encouragement from His Word.
For God gave us a Spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7
…Because He has “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works [whether good or bad] but because of His own purpose and grace, who He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began… 2 Tim. 1:9
His divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3
He chose us, saved us, and will sustain us for HIS own purpose and glory! For this reason, because He chose us, because of His forgiveness of sins, and because He has granted His own power to us, we must make “every effort to supplement [our] faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love…to keep [us] from being ineffective and unfruitful…for if [we] practice these qualities [we] will never fail.
So, “my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…Share in the sufferings as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets tangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 2 Tim 2:1-3
Therefore, dear Believer, we must persevere. However many times we veer or wander, we must maintain our hold on Him who keeps us from falling. Remembering the promises He has already fulfilled and focusing on the promises He will faithfully deliver in the future, we press on. Do not let feelings of discouragement and failure keep you down longer than you need to be. We were meant to depend on the Lord for all things. He is not our crutch, He is our everything.
In Him, we are new creations. (2 Cor.5:17)
In Him, we are free. (Rom.8:2)
In Him, we are fruitful. (Jn.15:5)
In Him, we are fearless, powerful, and disciplined (2 Tim.1:7)
In Him, we are more than conquerors. (Rom.8:37)
The best part is that He sovereignly and lovingly takes on the full responsibility for our life. All we need to do is trust Him, obey Him and keep going!
“Forgetting what is behind and strain forward to what is ahead. …press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:12-14
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER!
IN CHRIST AND
FOR CHRIST
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
The Lord bless you,
Bianca
