Improve Your Decisions and Move Forward

The best way to move on from your past is to look forward to your future and find ways to make better choices. You need to have a “plus one” mentality. Proverbs 24:16 says that no matter how many times the godly trip, they get up again. That means you don’t have to count your failures; you just have to count “plus one.” I failed at this task. Plus one more attempt. I made a mistake. Plus one more try. I messed up. Plus one more good choice.

David finally began learning from his mistakes. He gathered all his officials together and talked it over. Then he went to the priests and Levites and made sure he had the right plan in place. Finally, he called on all Israel to intercede and be ready to worship. Once he did that, he was ready for his plus one.

Now get this. He lined up the Levites to precede the ark with trumpet blasts. Then he got the priests who were assigned to carry the ark into position. Once that was all set, he had the whole group move forward. Then, after they took only six steps, David had them stop and sacrifice a bull and a fattened calf.

Isn’t that awesome! Before they took one more step, David made sure to acknowledge God. And then they moved forward in triumph. David knew his failure was due to self-centered and arrogant thinking. Now he needed to put God in the center. Only through the Lord’s strength could David take one more step. Only because of his God could David give a plus one.

Your success is always on the other side of failure. Think about it! No one was ever truly successful until they failed—and failed a lot! Until you fail, you don’t know what you can’t do. You only know what’s easy to do. But once you start moving to higher levels of achievement and things get more and more difficult, you won’t know what you can’t do until you fail. Then you get up again, you keep trying, and you keep improving. You get better! That means you can’t really get better until you fail.

When you are ready to fail and see your failure as an opportunity for new growth, then you’re putting yourself in the right spot for God to bless you. He wants to use you but only when you admit that you can’t do it alone. Failure is God’s way of showing us how much we need to rely on his strength.

The next time you fail, don’t stop. Admit your mistakes, quit replaying your past, and lean on God’s strength as you move forward toward the dream God has placed on your heart. After all, God is the one who put it there.

This plan contains devotions from Don’t Stop: Learn to See Your Failures and Struggles as Opportunities by Tyler Feller. https://broadstreetpublishing.com/dont-stop/9781424567249/