Stronger than Ever

Have you ever failed in something and felt like rubbish in your own eyes? I really want to encourage you to think again. God does not see you as a failure. He wants to use whatever has happened to make you a stronger person.

When a child who is learning to walk falls down, his mum will come and pick him up, steady him in his place, and start him off again on his walk in a safe direction. Each time he falls he gets stronger in his determination and, with her encouragement, he carries on. His mum doesn’t see him as a failure but delights in him.

‘The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. If they fall it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with his hand’ (Psalm 37:23, LB). So I want to encourage you. The Lord is holding you and delights in you as you take that next step with Him. He’s willing to forgive you when you fall and steady you. His mercy is new every morning and you can start this new day with Him.

When we fail, we tend to look back and remember all the times we’ve let God down. But God, in His grace, chooses not to remember the past but to give us a new start - a clean page. ‘There is, therefore, now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’. Read the wonderful context in which this was written in Romans Chapter 8.

Even if you feel you have let someone down, God can put even the most badly broken of things back together again. He can restore our failures as He did with Peter, after Peter had denied Him. He can restore relationships in ways that we would never have thought possible. He can make you stronger than ever before, and even enable you to help someone else who’s struggling. So let Him do it. Let Him make you smile again.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy and forgiveness. Thank You that I can always start afresh with You and You can make all things new in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.