The Choice

“I feel like a failure.”
“I can’t seem to do anything right.”
“Why can’t I overcome this?”
“How can God still love me when I keep screwing up?”

Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? I know I’m very familiar with the first one and lately, that last one has crept in. I’ve also heard this same theme coming from many friends and dear people I have the privilege to minister to, and I have a feeling many of you, our readers, are struggling with these feelings as well.

First of all, it’s pretty obvious to me the enemy is working overtime lately. The “hits” are coming more frequently and with much more strength. (Gee, wonder what’s up with that?) Plus we live in a societal system that seems to constantly judge who we are by it’s own twisted standards (another tool cleverly manipulated by the enemy to make us ineffective).

As parents we feel like failures because our children are either struggling or overwhelmed. As women we feel inadequate when we don’t measure up the model on the magazine cover. I can only imagine the pressures to perform our men are under these days. Then hit a little deeper to our faith, and we feel we’ve failed God because our unbelieving spouses still don’t believe. These lies barrage us on a daily basis, tearing our hope away and even undermining our faith.

Just what the enemy wants. I believe right now the enemy is hitting hard at our core, attacking us where we live, in our faith and in our hope. I myself have even come to doubt God’s love for me in recent weeks, and the only place I know to find confirmation of his love is in his Word.

Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:32 (NIV)
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These last verses say it all. If Paul, who offended Christ and the early church in some of the worst ways, could be this confident of God’s love, how can I doubt? How can I buy into the lies satan (yes, I refuse to capitalize his name intentionally because he does not warrant such respect) pelts at me when God’s Word so clearly tells me the polar opposite? I won’t lose God’s love. I may disappoint him or lose a blessing due to disobedience, but He will never stop loving me.

And that goes for you too. God loves every one of us (even our unbelieving spouses) no matter how miserably we think we fail on a daily basis. In fact, his love gives us the freedom to try again. Every day is a new day—reset and ready for new opportunities. The only time we truly fail is when we give up and refuse to believe this truth—even when we think we don’t have the energy to do so—and allow our failures to become chains. God will never walk away from you, so don’t walk away from him.

1 John 4:7-10 (NIV)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Just like God chose to love us first and we choose to love him, we can also choose to keep believing.

I pray Ephesians 3:14-19 (NIV) for every one of you reading this post and for our unbelieving loved ones:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you, dear friend and your unbelieving loved one, with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, dear friend and your unbelieving loved one, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you, dear friend and your unbelieving loved one, may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

Comments

[Ronie]

Beautiful! And yes--I'm right there in the middle of those questions. Thank you, girlie!

[Lynn]

Amen Dineen,

You know something about this post struck me. I know that we have been feeling stressed but I am ashamed to think about the pressure my husband has been under lately. Thank you for pointing this out.

Thank you for this post. I am walking with Jesus today. I am completely wraped in His arms and love. Wonderful.

[Heather Tipton]

wow. you know this one hits home with me. Given our very late convo last night. Girlie, thank you for writing and posting this.

[Heather Tipton]

wow. you know this one hits home with me. Given our very late convo last night. Girlie, thank you for writing and posting this.

[Sheryl]

Dineen, AMEN! I too won't capitalize satan's name. But he sure is on the attack. I see it more and more. If he can convince us or get us to question God's love, he really gets his foot in the door. I always figure if he's attacking me more and more, I must be a threat!

Love ya-Sheryl

[Patricia]

Wow...this really hit home for me too!! Just last night I had such negative feelings about myself & asked these very same questions! I prayed very hard last night & this morning, I can FEEL a whole new attitude!! I just keep thinking positively & imagine Jesus right beside me (thanks to Lynn's Water Drop Experiment!) & I can feel the warm embrace from Him!!
Bless you, Dineen!!

[Angela]

I was once one of those people that doubted why I was here and what value I had. God had to pick me up, like a mother dog does her pups, and shake me by the scruff of the neck. I now feel his love and look at my life through his eyes. It was so easy to look at others with love, the way God does, through his eyes. I never could see my self the way God did. Now I can because God has showed me in specific ways how he feels about me and what my worth is in his eyes. So I refuse to let the Devil put that old mind set back in me. I am greatful for that new vision God blessed me with.

[Dineen Miller]

Thank you once again for all the comments, Ladies! You rock!

Patricia, God is so timely, isn't He? :-)

Angela, you are sooooooo blessed to have that. I pray for that mindset too! You give me hope.

[Angie]

Oh Dineen...that was on target. I can't explain what's been going on in my heart/mind/life...except to say I have been a mess! My patience is thin...where it is normally thick...my attitude stinks...where it normally doesn't---longsuffering seems to be unknown to my heart! I cried and prayed my way to work for the past 2 days. He is near---I feel His presence---yet I seem to react the SAME way to the SAME problem everytime. With gritted teeth!
He is working...and as the song says...."God is able"...and the Bible says---to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or even imagine!
I love you dear girl!