Pastoral Pearls: God's Comma
Never place a period where God places a comma. ~ Anonymous
You always pass failure on the way to success ~ Anonymous
I found it very intriguing this morning when two completely separate quote sources I went to when I started my day basically said the same sentiment. I find those kinds of coincidences to be God trying to tell me something. So, what might God be trying to tell me? Actually I recognized the type of response to life that was being described in these two sources pretty easily. Ever thrown in the towel or given up? Decided something was just too hard to keep pursuing? I certainly have. That’s when I begin to believe it never could happen for me. (oh, yeah,.. wait…I need to pass these failures to get to success.) What a disservice to God! (not to mention myself,) when I don’t I trust God enough and the power of God’s Holy Spirit in my life, to keep going! To keep trying!
James Dyson says, “What I’ve learned (from running) is that the time to push hard is when you’re hurting like crazy and you want to give up. Success is often just around the corner.” Well, that quote had to speak to me, with my sense of adventure and always wanting to find out what was around the next corner or over the next hill. And yet when it comes to something like losing or maintaining a healthy weight, with all my yo-yo successes and failures, I am more often than not tempted to give into that defeatist voice that encourages me to believe that there is no way I can ever really accomplish that goal.
But if I take a “mindful pause,” (thank you Cami Smalley ) I can stop (my whining and self-defeating self-talk) – breathe (in the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance, opening my heart) - think (How could I draw on God’s strength to keep going?) and – choose (what action honors God and the way God sees me and believes in me?). I can see each stumble as God’s “comma,” and not the ending “period” that I tend to make it mean. Remembering how God sees me can pull me back from the edge so I can dig deep inside for the Holy Spirit’s strength and guidance. Who knows how close I may be to that corner of success? I have to trust that God can get me there. I will, however, need to listen for where God is guiding me, instead of just trying to do it all on my own, and miss God’s help.
Where in your life are you feeling like giving up? What is it that you feel will just never happen for you, no matter how hard you try?
Loving God,
may I offer into your hands those challenges that seem to be getting the better of me.
May I begin to see myself as you do, to recognize the comma (rather than the period), to keep looking beyond any failures and be drawn around each corner that brings me closer to success.
May I open my heart to your Holy Spirit’s guidance, and trust in the miracles you can and do bring about in my life, just when I am on the verge of giving up hope.
May I always hold you before me as my constant hope and strength.
Thank you for all the comma’s you give me, which lead me forward, ever closer to you.
~ Amen