Rise

Alyssa Miller, photographer.  Some rights reserved

I had had it!  I was done being mom.  I didn't want to be the one that was the grown up anymore.  I was tired of saying the same thing over and over and over again, of feeling like no one was listening.  I lost it - and rather than respond as I would want to be responded to when my 7 year old came up to ask a question that I had just answered.  Yes, the 18 month old was screaming at the top of her lungs at the same time, and yes, my teenager had his headphones on so he was completely oblivious to everything as I tried to balance the phone on my shoulder as I pulled dinner out of the oven.  And yes, I was exhausted.  But that doesn't excuse the tone or volume that I chose to use when I responded to my daughter, and I knew that I had crushed her when her normally cheerful face fell and the tears began to form in her eyes.  In that moment I knew that I had failed.

We all have moments like this.  Yours may have occurred with a co-worker who just doesn't seem to have the same work ethic you do.  Or it may have been with your spouse who can't seem to get their dirty clothes IN the laundry hamper.  Or the neighbor that insists on turning the music up too loud, again.  Face it, we live in a world that is full of people that don't always recognize how their actions affect others.    A world that doesn't stop because we are having a bad day. And we make the wrong choice....

It isn't something unique to us.  Jesus was facing the most difficult, and agonizing time of His life.  He knew it was coming and sought His Father's counsel.  Like us, He didn't want to face the hardship alone so He asked his friends to go with Him, to pray with Him.  They went, they sat near Him, they began praying....and as the night went on and their bodies got tired, they made a choice - they went to sleep.  Not just once, but three times!  And it was a direct, face to face Jesus request!  I can only imagine how they felt when they recognized how disappointed Jesus was at the way they had let Him down. 

If they were anything like me they felt like failures.  After all, it isn't that hard to (fill in the blank), and I messed it up.....again.  And yet, the Bible doesn't say that Jesus condemned them.  Instead, He recognized that, "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak". (Matthew 26:41)  I have to say that I am ever so thankful that God looks at our heart rather than our outward appearances (including our actions sometimes).  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not saying that there isn't a need to make the effort to do what is right.  Quite the contrary, as there are numerous verses that tell us to make every effort to choose what is right. (Psalm 1:1, Ephesians 5:11, Ephesians 4:26 to name a few)

But when we mess up, what do we do?  Jesus says, "Rise, let us be going".  (Matthew 26:46)  Don't wallow in what has been done wrong.  Go to the person you have wronged and ask forgiveness.  (Matthew 5:23)  Talk to God about it and ask His forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)  And then rise, and leave it behind.  Once we have confessed, God doesn't see the sin any more. (Psalm 103:12) 

You still have to deal with the consequences here though.  Don't think that a confession of wrong doing makes everything better.  I will never be able to remove the pain I inflicted when I chose to react out of frustration rather than love with my daughter.  But I can show her that we all make mistakes.  I can show her how to handle them in a Godly manner.  And I can show her how to move past them. 

*originally published on Coffee with Christ

Regrets

 I had a few free moments and was scanning my Facebook feed when this video popped up:



And it really made me stop and think...we all have at least one regret in our life.  One thing we wish we had done, or had done sooner, that might have changed the whole course of our life.  Or that thing that we did that we wish we hadn't, that we bury in a deep dark place and pray no one ever finds out.

For years I had a long list of the latter.  Choices I made with high school boyfriends, choices I made to fit in with my group of friends, choices I made in what I worshiped.  When I finally made the choice to become a follower of Jesus I was ashamed of them, especially since my first church was full of older people that seemed to have been living the "right" life all of their life. (I am sure that they didn't see it that way and that this was more due to my perception than reality!) So I put on the "good girl" mask, jumped in to a servant position in the church and tried to earn that "right life" feeling.  I wanted to be "good enough" for God.

Unfortunately, I never accomplished it.  You see, we can't be "good enough" for Him.  The Bible says that ALL fall short of the glory of God, ALL have sinned.  (Romans 3:23)  That little 3 letter word includes you.....and me.  Even if you have been a Christian all your life.  And for a long time that verse was really difficult for me.  I wanted to be a perfect reflection of Jesus to the world, and instead my mirror was cracked and stained, and even missing pieces in some places.

The good news is that God extends grace to us, unmerited favor.  You don't earn it, you can't earn it, but He gives it to us anyway.  And His grace is enough.  His strength is made perfect in weakness, our weakness.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)  Now, that isn't to say we have a free license to run out and intentionally give Him opportunities to display His strength because we selfishly want to wallow in our weaknesses.  But when we go to Him and lay our weaknesses at His feet, He can turn them around.  He can use them for good.  (Romans 8:28)

And as for our past, when we give it to God, when we stop hiding it in those deep dark places and pull it out into the light, He isn't going to shake His head in disappointment and turn His back on us.  Instead our God says this:

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

~Psalm 103:10-13 

 Those past regrets, He has already erased them from the blackboard.  Isn't it about time that you did too?  No, you may never be a perfect, sinless reflection of Jesus.  But you can let go of the past and look to the present.  How can you reach out to those around you that are still struggling with their regrets?  What can you do to show them that they are loved and valued just as they are?  So many are hurting, won't you share the all encompassing love of Jesus with someone this Valentine's day?

*originally published on Coffee with Christ