Word for Today – Anita Wamble Ministries

Word for Today

Hope in the Midst of Failure
“Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.” Ezra 10:2

Every moment of everyday, we make decisions. Our choices are simple. We’ll do the will of God or we won’t. We’ll be faithful to the things of God or we won’t. We’ll be obedient to God or we won’t. Really simple.

Every moment of every day, we make decisions. Our choices are simple. We’ll tell the truth or we’ll lie. We’ll be kind in spirit or we’ll be evil of heart. We’ll treat others the way we want to be treated or we’ll treat others they way we think they deserve. Simple, yes?

If it were simple then we’d all live our lives like Christ every moment of every day. Every decision would be based on God’s will for us and not our will for ourselves. But it’s not that simple. We fail every day. We fail moment by moment because we make decisions that are based on our emotions, our dreams and our desires.

We fail and then we feel bad. We fall and then we feel ashamed. We know we should do better but somehow, we just can’t seem to get it right. It’s okay, because there is hope in the midst of our failure.

Often times we feel like Paul when he said: “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:21 – 25

Yes, thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord we have been saved from our sin. Even when we fail to live up to Christ standards, we still have hope. In spite of what we’ve done, we still have hope, which means we do not have to wallow in self-pity or sink into depression. We can get up, admit to our sins, ask for forgiveness, and move on.

If you’re stuck know this: GOD DOES NOT HAVE YOU STUCK. YOU HAVE YOU STUCK. God does not hold our sins against us. On the contrary, the Bible says in Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

With your hope in God, no matter what you did, what you are doing or what you may do, you are forgiven.
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.“ Psalm 31:24

Grace and peace,

Min. Anita Wamble