Lies, Failure and the Truth

Have you ever noticed that failure is a relative concept? 

Let me rephrase that...

Have you ever noticed that what makes each of us feel like a failure is a relative concept? 

Did you see the difference?

I mentioned that a lot of things make me feel like a failure.

Most recently?  Buying cereal.

Huh?

Why does buying cereal make me feel like a failure?

Because I'm supposed to make it myself.  Making granola has been on my to do list for weeks (not counting our time away) and tonight at the store, when my husband turned down the cereal aisle, I inwardly hung my head again in failure.


"He is buying cereal again because I've failed... again."

"He's buying cereal because he doesn't think I'm capable of making granola.  And he's right!"

"I can't do anything right."

"I'm a terrible wife and mother."

"I've failed."

Yes, I really do go through all these thoughts.  And you know what?  They are all lies from the enemy.  Yet with each thought I inwardly hang my head lower and lower. 

But tonight, standing in the cereal aisle, Truth whispered its way into my heart.

Who are you failing? 

Who issued the decree that I should make all our family's cereal?  I did.  Yes, making all our own foods from scratch using healthy, natural ingredients is a goal.  It is healthier.  It is more economical.  But does that always make it better in general?  Does it make it holy?  NO!

What God cares about is my heart.  Your heart!

He knows that I didn't sleep much this week.  That I'm taking care of an extra little boy during the days.  That I struggle with organization.  That I'm trying to be more consistent with my children and less lazy in general.  He cares more that I stop and worship Him in a day than whether I remember to roll my oats.  It's true.  I did fail to make the granola.  And it's true that I probably could have if....

But I didn't.  And I can choose to listen to the enemy as he spits out lies to the tune of my failure, or I can ask God to forgive the laziness that may have been at the root and look to Him to show me His priorities.

Maybe I should have gotten to the granola this week.

Or maybe His plans for my week were not to spend my time making granola.  Maybe His plans for our shopping trip included My Beloved turning down the cereal aisle. 

Maybe, just maybe, He doesn't see me as a failure, but instead His work in progress.  His clay being molded.


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Labels: Life Lessons for Mommy

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM