A Holy Hustle New YearSample

I’ve been known to be a bit of a perfectionist, and making mistakes has never been easy for me. Small mistakes – like sending an email with the wrong date in it, or forgetting to send my daughter’s library book back to school – are embarrassing. Big mistakes – the kind that have had people unfriend me, ask me to resign, or consider me unworthy for an opportunity – are devastating. The pain associated with big mistakes makes me even more afraid to make small errors. But, as we’ll learn from Paul, God has a plan for us, and work for us to do, even when we do make mistakes – as long as we learn to move through them.

Mistakes are part of being human. Our reading today is a beautiful example of how our past does not disqualify us from the future God has written for our lives.

Have you ever been so afraid to make a mistake that you were frozen in place? Maybe your work required learning a new skill and you didn’t want to let anyone down. Or you were asked to do something or serve in some way that you just KNEW you wouldn’t be able to do.

Or maybe you’ve struggled to overcome people’s perceptions and judgements of you long after you’ve allowed God to change your heart. They still see you in the old way, remembering your past, your failures, your mistakes – while you are ready and willing to honor God with your work. If only they would include you.

We all make mistakes, mess up, and make the wrong choices – but God still has work for us to do! Even knowing all of our mistakes and failures, God still chose us, He still loves us, and He knows what all our days hold. This year, may we stop putting our pride ahead of our love for Jesus so we can do incredible things for God’s Kingdom.