Proverbs 26:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”

Philippians 3:13 & 14, “Brethern, I do not count myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Hey OTP Family! God is so very good to us. He is patient, faithful, and long suffering. He does not give up on us even when we want to give up on ourselves. I just wanted to take a moment to encourage to show yourself some grace. You may not always be perfect or do everything just right. You will fail and you will fall down from time to time. But the key is not to lay there and wallow in your failure. We get back up, shake ourselves and get back in line. We repent, ask for forgiveness, ask for strength to move one and continue to do what God has given us to do. Here is the key – we have to accept the forgiveness God freely gives to us.

Our problem – we still remember what we did wrong. We still think about how we failed, how we did not do what God told us to, etc. But when God forgives us, we have to forgive ourselves too. We need to receive that forgiveness with a whole heart and let the past go. Yes, the past – because that is where the failure lives. We cannot take our past failures into the bright future that God has planned for us.

The thing to remember is that no matter what your gift and calling is without repentance (Romans 11:29). Which means God’s gifts and His selection of people for a specific purpose (His calling) are irrevocable; He does not change His mind nor regret them. With that in mind, understand you do not have the option to walk away from this anointing. We need to get it together and get back to work.

But remember to give yourself grace. This race is a marathon and not a sprint. Our focus is to finish the race. You do not have to be the first to the finish line, the goal is to stay in the race and finish strong.

Trust God’s plan for your life and focus on being the vessel for his will to be done.

Prayer is essential. The believer needs to have a consistent prayer life. This is our life line. Most of our failure is precipitated by a lack of prayer. Prayer is our daily (sometimes hourly) conversation with God. This is our opportunity to seek God, to cry out God, to vent our frustrations, admit our weakness, to surrender to his will, and to get direction and guidance. The scripture says it like this – “Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6).

Show yourself some grace on this journey. Trust God and all will be well.

Stay encouraged and have a blessed night.