"When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power." -Hugh White
The future is yet in your power... That is the key thing to remember when you're faced with dealing with the consequences of mistakes you might have made in the past. So you messed up, you fell down, you gave in. We all have our periods of weakness. Everyone makes mistakes, but whether you choose to learn from them or not is what establishes the difference between a foolish person and a wise person.
Here it goes, I'm just going to put myself out there in this blog because you just never know who could be reading it, and who could need to hear what I'm about to say. In my last post, I shared with you guys that the temptation around me was hard, but I was remaining strong and doing well in it. I wasn't giving in to the things of this world. But, I underestimated the power of Satan, and in a single moment that I let my guard down, he dragged me down further than I could have ever imagined myself being. It's just that easy.
"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals'." -1 Corinthians 15:33
I was deceived. I had let the world get the best of me. I figured I would be fine, and I didn't take the matters of my sins seriously. Satan will use ANYTHING to try to tear you down and stop you from following God's plan, and if you don't prepare yourself for that you're going to stumble. I hadn't prepared for it. I was living life on cruise control and just not taking my spiritual life seriously. Times that you think you are at your strongest, can sometimes prove to be times when you really are at your weakest. I was vulnerable. That's the only way I can really describe it. So of course, I messed up. I fell down. But I'm on my way to getting back up. If there's anything that I've taken out of high school it's that people are going to mess up. You are going to mess up. I am going to mess up. But take advantage of the times that you have fallen and have sinned, and use them as stepping stones. Don't just push it off to the side and let it get the best of you by running away, and don't sit and dwell on it for so long that you just feel dirty and guilty and you can't get over it. Think on it, think about why you did it, how you let it happen, and plan for the future. Figure out how you're going to rid yourself of it, and how you can take this and learn from it. That's where I'm at right now. And I couldn't be more thankful to have such a gracious God when I am so undeserving. But that's the point. He sent his son to pay the ultimate punishment for our sins because WE MESS UP. He knows that. But through Jesus we have forgiveness. "My sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." Lyrics from Jesus Paid it All. When you mess up, just remember that there is a way out of it.
"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came through Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:23
I said in my last blog that it's easy to be a christian when you are surrounded by them, but when you are put in a place that is dark and you are supposed to be the light, well, it gets a lot harder. But God wouldn't put me where I am if he didn't know that I could handle it. I'm supposed to be in Jacksonville. That is where the Lord put me to spread his love and his name, and I didn't have that mindset going into the summer semester. So this has been my prayer for the last week- that I may be continually seeking God and glorifying Him in my life. I want to be used by him. I want to serve Him, and serve others, and I want people to know the love that I know. This is my prayer as I leave for Jacksonville again for the fall semester. I'm doing things differently this time. I'm doing things the right way. I'm looking at it as my mission field. Please pray for me, because I could always use it. I know it's going to be hard, but I also know that it is what God is calling me to do, so I want to be ready and willing to accept the challenge.
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God." -Deuteronomy 28:1
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