J. R. Miller wrote, “If we had but one chance in life it would fare badly with most of us. We do scarcely anything perfectly the first time we try to do it. Nearly always do we fail. Not many lives are lived beautifully, without a break or a lapse, from childhood to age. If, therefore, the opportunity of choosing good came to us only once, and was forever withdrawn, few of us would make anything of our life.”

How thankful we ought to be for second chances! We ought to be glad that the Divine Potter doesn’t throw the clay away. Out of loving patience and with unequalled wisdom and skill He takes the marred vessel and makes “it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”( Jer. 18:4). History is filled with examples of those who recovered from a fall. Not only did they merely recover, the experience enabled them to minister to others in a unique way. They teach us that failure doesn’t have to be fatal, final. or futile.

Remember this—failing doesn’t make you a failure! Everyone fails, but you aren’t a failure until you give up and refuse to obey God. Failure doesn’t have to be final. With God there is always hope, if we but trust Him. Forget the past. Focus on the future possibilities that are sure to come when we come to God in repentance.

2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
 (KJV) [Read more…]

It is amazing what people, who seem to have no special talents, can do if they care enough to do what they can with what they’ve got. The following story illustrates my point. [Read more…]

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps.”

Solomon tells us that man may make plans, but God has the final say. In other words, man devises-God directs, man proposes-God disposes. We’ve all heard about the best laid plans that go astray and we’ve all experienced the disappointment of having our plans thwarted. Hurricane Ike is a good example of this. Regardless of their plans and best efforts, everyone in Ike’s path was affected in some way. For some the effect was minimal, for others it was devasting. With some it was a matter of inconvenience. Others suffered terrible loss. We were all made aware of the fact that there are some things we can’t control or change.

When you stop and think about it, man is not nearly as powerful as he thinks. We can dream and we can plan, but it is not always in our power to make things turn out as we desire. We need to realize, like it or not, we are dependent upon God. Just as the Ethiopian cannot “change his skin, or the leopard his spots”(Jer. 13:23) there are some things beyond our control. Instead of getting bitter and complaining we need to accept what God allows and move on, doing the best we can with what we’ve got.

There’s nothing wrong with planning (Prov. 6:6-8), but we should never forget that God is in control. Although He works in ways we cannot understand, we know that He makes no mistakes. Everything happens for a reason and we must trust Him. The following says it well:

“When fear and worry test your faith

And anxious thoughts assail,

Remember God is in control

And He will never fail.”