It is Okay to Exhale.

Failure is inevitable.

It is okay to make mistakes. We all fail sometimes (Ecclesiastes 7:20 Romans 3:23). If you are anything like me, you have found yourself in a time where you are unsure what to do. Overwhelmed, and frustrated, battling the fear of making the wrong decision.

The last thing I want to do is disappoint God or the people that I love. Sometimes I walk around holding my breath afraid that one heavy sigh might be what would send my life spinning into chaos. One wrong move and the life, I am holding together with duct tape and sheer will, might come tumbling down.

Something tells me that it is not just me that feels this way at least once in a while. I think we women can get to feeling this way. We are trying to juggle our jobs or activities, with family and church and sometimes we feel like we are one deep breath away from dropping everything we are juggling.

It’s Okay to let go.

I want to tell you something, it’s okay to exhale. It is okay if we fail or drop one of the things we are juggling. We don’t have to go around tiptoeing through situations afraid to fail. I guarantee that sometimes we will fail, it is part of flawed human nature, if we think we will never mess up again then we are only deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8-9). The good news is that Jesus died so that we don’t stay stuck in our mistakes and failures (John 3:16-17).

So, let’s take a deep breath together. We are going to make mistakes, but they don’t have to hold us back from walking with Jesus and living in the abundance Jesus promised (John 10:10).

Failure serves a purpose.

Our failures and weaknesses serve a few purposes:

•              A display of God’s power through our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are weak but willing to serve God, He can move in ways we could never do on our own. Through Christ in our weakness, we are strong.

•              To reveal God’s faithfulness and mercy through our faults (Psalms 147:5 Numbers 23:19). God reveals His faithfulness to us when He forgives us again and again. No matter how far we fall, He loves us and extends His hand toward us to help us back up.

•              To equip us to do “every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The word of God presents to us the law in the Old Testament to show us how all men have sinned (Romans 3:23), but when we fail the scripture also shows us the way to get back up and continue following Jesus. It shows us how to grow in Christ and become a better reflection of Him. When we fail, we can turn to the Bible to help us get back on track and to help us grow, so we can do the good work God has called us to.

•              Gives us compassion so that we may learn to love others as ourselves (John 13:34). As we fail, we have more tolerance and patience for others as they fail. Jesus tells us to judge not, or we will face judgment. A good way to learn not to judge is to remember that we also make mistakes, and we want God and others to show mercy to us, so we need to first show mercy. With mercy, patience, and understanding comes Christlike love.

Summary

We all know what it is to fear failure, but we also know God has not given us a spirit of fear, for His spirit is one of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). We know that even when we fail God loves us and when we fail all that God needed from us is to turn to Him, repent, and change our ways and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do this. God uses failures for our good and His glory (Genesis 50:20). Our weaknesses and failures display His power and faithfulness, equip us to do the good work He has planned for us, and help us have love and compassion for others in their journey.