Wednesday, March 24, 2010

31 Day Challenge- Proverbs Chapter 24

Well, the Proverbs Podcast for Proverbs 24 was an exact fit for me again today!  Wow!  It continued along the lines of what I talked about yesterday.  It is called “Beyond Defeat”.  I thought it was just so fitting for today. 

I listened to a show on Blog Talk Radio today through the Christian Woman Affiliate and they had Liz Curtis Higgs on as their guest.  Liz was speaking about her past and how she had a wild 10 year streak.  At one point in her life she wished that she could erase those 10 years from her life.  Then she realized that because of those 10 years she is who is today and her ministry and the growth in her life is all because of those 10 years.

I know there are points in my life that I would like to erase as well.  But I know they are there for a reason.  I call them my “Character Building Exercises”.  My character—who I am today—would be completely different if I didn’t have those years.  I wouldn’t have been able to write my book without those exercises.  Exercising is never fun, well at least I don’t find it “fun”.  I like the rewards from exercise, such as fitting my clothes better, my body doesn’t jiggle as much, joint pain is less, etc.  The same goes for “Character Building Exercises”, it’s not fun when you are going through it but the reward is in the character that has been developed.  You are stronger, wiser and closer to Christ as you work to become who He has created you to be.  Here is another verse about hope:

V.14 “In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.”

In today’s Podcast Al Fike says that,

“Failure is NOT failure; it is one step closer to success.”

Failure gets such a negative rap.  Doing things wrong is how you get to right.  What encouraging messages I heard again and again today.  It was obviously something that I needed to hear.  Just because I have “stuff” in my past doesn’t mean that God can’t use me, it means that He will use my “stuff” to help others find the path that leads to Him.  Can I get an “AMEN!”

4 comments:

  1. I have a shirt that I made about 7 years ago...at the time I liked the saying : Failure is an option...because I never liked people saying it was NOT an option. Like you could never fail, if you did you were worthless. So I said Failure is an option. To me it teaches you something everytime. So why not fail??...its all learning!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BTW: it is easier to move on into something productive after a failure if you are not so invested in success!! Its all just a notch in the learning belt...try try again :0)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well said! I completely agree. I wouldn't be who I am today without failure. This is a hard lesson to teach our children. But an important one. I like Ms. Frizzle on Magic School Bus when she says, "Take Chances, get messy, make mistakes!" Wisdom according to Ms. Frizzle. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Take Chances, get messy, make mistakes!" Wisdom according to Ms. Frizzle.

    I love that quote. Way back, I used to watch the MSB with my son...ah, when life was easy and layed back!!

    Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your thoughts, please feel free to share with me.