If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome. ♥
You’ve blown it. So much so that it feels like there’s no way back.
Don’t believe that lie.
Failure doesn’t mean that God’s plan has gone away. Your mistakes aren’t bigger than God’s fingerprints on your life.
So that leaves one thing.
Get up, sister.
Lean into His love for you. Sure, there’s things that you’ll have to face. Things you’ll have to deal with, but that’s okay.
Grow through them.
Come out stronger on the other side.
And how do you do that?
Run to God rather than away from Him.
You see, it’s not about your worthiness. It’s about His. He cleanses our sins. He heals our wounds. He teaches. He even rebukes (because He is honest when no one else dares).
He wraps us in His love and redemption.
When we stay away from God because we feel unworthy, our focus is on us. When we run to Him, something powerful takes place. It’s described beautifully in this verse:
Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. Matthew 6:6 The Message
Own your failures
For years I pointed to my past.
This is why I am the way I am.
And there’s some truth in that, except for this:
The past shapes me, but it doesn’t define me.
When I own my failures, I stop placing blame on everyone and everything else.
Then I can do something about it. Maybe there’s a gap that I need filled by God, by a mentor, through growth and tangible steps.
When I own my mistakes, chains are broken that desire to hold me back, keep me down.
Do more than say you are sorry
In AA, recovering members are asked to make amends to those they hurt.
It makes sense. It’s a huge step in healing — and even if they a person isn’t ready to receive your sincere apology or reject that apology, something healing is released in you through the act of doing it.
Sure, you’re embarrassed. Sure, you don’t know how they’ll respond.
Do it anyway.
If you took something precious (dignity, security, trust) from another human being, admit that. Say your are sorry without excusing your behavior or defending your mistakes.
Allow that space for grace as they learn to trust you again.
Get up
Dancers fall before they perform flawlessly: athletes are injured by careless play.
The difference between a great dancer or athlete and an average one is that they get up after they fall.
Every single time.
But Suzie, I’m sick of falling. Isn’t it easier just to stay down?
Yes, it’s easier.
But is that who you are? Is that what God has destined you to be? Is that where you want to be one week from now, five years from now?
No, because you’re name is etched on the palm of His hand.
Getting up is trusting that God’s plan is still in place. . . because it is.
You haven’t fell all the way back to the beginning. As you get up, remind yourself of how far you’ve come with His help. Praise Him that He’s brought you so far!
And that He’ll complete the work He began in you.
Accept and identify in His forgiveness
There comes a time we stop wearing the identity of “bad” or “gone too far” or “not worth much” to hold out our hands and let His forgiveness wash over us.
I know. It’s hard to fathom, right? He offers a fresh slate. But it’s so much more than that.
He redeems those failures.
. . . . who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion, Psalm 103:4 NIV
It’s a God thing. I don’t completely understand it on a natural level, but supernaturally God takes the bumps, the brokenness, the burdens, that person who everyone else gave up on, and He mines it for good.
He re-identifies us as He pours out love and compassion.
You become what He knew you were (you are) all along.
The “good” from the bad shows up as you tell others who God is.
Slowly, your story changes. One chapter no longer identifies you. It’s not a story of failure, but of what it means to climb out of a pit to walk day-by-day with Christ.
Suzie
The Unburdened Heart: Finding the Freedom of Forgiveness leads you, with the help of God’s Spirit, to leave pain to find wholeness, leave regret to find purpose and leave the past to live fully in the present.
I hope you’ll check out this gentle resource that will help you live free. You can purchase this book at:
Proverbs 31 Ministries (purchasing through P31 helps this nonprofit ministry reach hundreds of thousands of women daily)
This is such a powerful blog. I loved “Failure doesn’t mean that God’s plan has gone away. Your mistakes aren’t bigger than God’s fingerprints on your life.” Thanks, Suzanne. Blessings Diana
Thanks, Diana. : ) You are a blessing.
Thanks Suzie, I pray I learn to forgive myself and lean into God’s love and remember that His plan for me is still intact. I happened to use tithe to pay a debt, and made myself believe I was no longer worthy in God’s sight. Thanks I now know I am still His child, with His Grace, all will be well. A very happy new year to you.
Juanita, may I pray for you?
Lord, thank you for this tender-hearted daughter who desires to please you. Whose heart and motivation is to walk with you. Peel away condemnation to reveal acceptance and joy in a new day. In your name, amen.
wow thank you for this post and your devotion on Proverbs 31. Both were great reminders and incentives for me today!
Thanks, Heather. So glad to see you here. I hope you come back. We’ll keep walking in freedom together!
Thank you and praise the Lord for this post today. I needed it and was blessed.
Thanks, Priscilla. You are so loved by God. So treasured. So marked by Him. Please embrace that as truth. Hold it close. Whisper it and speak it out loud until you believe it.
The word ‘redeemed’ has been on my heart lately. Thank you for this reminder, Suzie:)
Isn’t it a beautiful, powerful word?
Thank you for this message Suzie-Thank you for reminding me of Whose I am.
I spent a good 15 years of my life believing that I had crossed the line, so to speak, and could not be forgiven. As a teen, I chose to go to a party that God had clearly told me not to go to. I went. I then spent the next 15 years of my life tormented by that belief that I was permanantly unforgiven. I would go from extreme depression, even feeling suicidal, but too afraid to kill myself because surely I was going straight to hell, to trying to earn back my place in heaven by trying to be good enough. Needless to say, it was horrible. God had to allow me to get to a very low place before I finally became so desparate that I sought help. I had previously been too afraid to tell anyone about what I was going through because I just knew that they would confirm my worst fears – Yes, Denise, you are indeed going to hell, forever separated from God. But finally, I talked to a counseling pastor. Slowly but surely, I began to accept God’s grace again, rejecting the lies that I had been belieiving. I have grown a lot since then, but I still have to battle the feeling that I have fallen too far now and again. Thank you for reminding me, and all of us who struggle that we are still resting in our Father’s arms, that he will complete the work that he began in us, and that we are, indeed, forgiven and loved. Also, if anyone is so inclined, I would love some prayer right now, as I am going through a particularly rough time in my marriage, and I can use all of the help that I can get. Thanks!
Bless you and your marriage, Dense. I’m glad that you didn’t give up (on yourself and on God)
Denise, I have prayed for you, and your marriage. Our Lord will answer all our prayers in HIS way. Keep holding on to our Lord Jesus’ hand, and be in His Word!
Praying for you Denise that you’ll be able to take the truth you are learning from God and apply it to your relationship with your husband…. especially with forgiveness. The Lord is with you and HE is mighty to save.
Sherry
Overall, this is posting has been a huge blessing to me!! I had just recently completed a 30-day Bible study on “Freedom in Christ’-all I can say is ‘WOW’! Here is its website address for anyone who might be interested: [you might need to copy & paste it!]
Both your posting, Suzanne & that website simply reaffirmed my faith, my trust in our Lord Jesus. Thanks so much!
oops, the website didn’t get included! https://faithwritersjesuspage.weebly.com/freedom-in-christ.html
Dear Suzie,
I love that you remind us that God is bigger
than our mistakes. I’m looking forward to a new
Year! A new way of thinking! I hope to be able to
make better choices in my actions with others
this year! I also want to be able to forgive more.
It is good to know that God hasn’t given up on His
Plans for me!
Thank you! Janet