How do we pick ourselves up after a mess up? How do we move on when we feel like we’ve let everyone down?

We can learn from King David after his affair with Bathsheba. The terrible results of his actions couldn’t be avoided (2 SAM. 12:11-12,14), but he found his way back to God. He messed up big time, but that didn’t mean his relationship with God was over. It meant that he needed God more than ever!

We can do what David did in his failure: honestly admit we’ve got things wrong (V.13) and ask for God’s forgiveness. Then we can ask God to spare others any pain from our actions (V.16). Finally, we need to accept that sometimes the results of our selfishness simply cannot be avoided. We have to rely on God to bring us through them.

The devil doesn’t just want us to mess up. He wants us to give up because of our mistakes. He wants us to stop walking with God altogether. When we’ve blown things, we need to remember why Jesus died: to pay for all our sin. Don’t let your mess-ups stop you living for Jesus and making Him known. We can move on from failure.

By: Regie Keller

To Pray About . . .

Lord, when I'm struggling to move on from something I've done, please help me to completely accept Your forgiveness for me.