Reason #885
You have two options of how you handle life's situations: graceful or graceless.
I used to fall all the time when I was a child. Seriously, I could trip over air. Falling and knocking over drinks were my two specialties. My mom made me drink out a cup with a sippy lid for far longer than appropriate. I don't blame her. I would do the same thing if my kid knocked over as many drinks as I did in my day. In fact, my clumsiness was so consistent that my parents used to joke that my middle name was Grace due to my "graceless" ways.
I was in elementary school, and we had taken a vacation to New Mexico. I want to say we were in Santa Fe, and I distinctly remember the fall I took that day. We had been out shopping, and my brother and I begged to have bottled flavored water. That was a real treat for us since it was something we had never had before. My parents wanted to make sure it wasn't wasted money, so they made us agree to drink the flavored water rather than take one sip and throw it away. All parents know that children are quick to ask for things that seem really cool only to end up not liking it. We agreed we'd drink our bottles completely, and they each bought us our own glass bottle of fizzy, flavored water. We were walking along, and a part of the sidewalk happened to be uneven. Being the graceful one, my toe caught the part that was sticking up and down I went. It probably took me a whole 3 seconds to get from the upright position to laying flat on my face, yet somehow, I managed to find time to hold my little arm up straight in the air as to not drop my bottle of precious water. Obviously, I didn't catch myself, but the good news was that I didn't waste my water. Not a single drop fell out of that bottle, and luckily, for me, I was quiet resilient since this was a usual occurrence.
Sometimes in life, we take a fall. It's true. We're walking right along and the next thing we know, we're lying flat on our faces. If we're lucky, not too many people were around to witness it. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. And the truth is, those who were there to witness it usually pass it on to those who weren't, and it seems that everyone knows. And so you have to options. You can stay down, rolling around in misery and shame, making it a bigger deal that it has to be. Or, you can get up. You can dust yourself off, you can hold you head high, and you can breathe out a sigh of relief that you're okay. Because even though the fall hurts, you have to get up at one point or another. And sure, people might laugh, they might gossip, and you might feel a little awkward, but let me tell you a secret. Everybody falls. It's true. Everybody falls. And so it's not really the fall you need to be concerned about. We all go down the same way. The difference, the thing that will be most noticed, is how we get up from it.
Choose to respond with grace. Choose to get up, hold your head high, and give God the glory. Thank Him that no fall is too hard for Him to redeem. It might hurt, but the sting will go away. You might be injured, broken, and bruised, but He'll heal you. Your scars will become a story, and it will be worth sharing. Learn, grow, and let God use it. Let God use you. Move forward with gratitude, not bitterness. Continue on in His mercy, not your shame. It's okay to fall. We've all been there. Get back up, keep pressing on, and let God steady your feet going forward.
#885 - Because no fall is too hard for Him to redeem.
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." - Psalm 143:10
I used to fall all the time when I was a child. Seriously, I could trip over air. Falling and knocking over drinks were my two specialties. My mom made me drink out a cup with a sippy lid for far longer than appropriate. I don't blame her. I would do the same thing if my kid knocked over as many drinks as I did in my day. In fact, my clumsiness was so consistent that my parents used to joke that my middle name was Grace due to my "graceless" ways.
I was in elementary school, and we had taken a vacation to New Mexico. I want to say we were in Santa Fe, and I distinctly remember the fall I took that day. We had been out shopping, and my brother and I begged to have bottled flavored water. That was a real treat for us since it was something we had never had before. My parents wanted to make sure it wasn't wasted money, so they made us agree to drink the flavored water rather than take one sip and throw it away. All parents know that children are quick to ask for things that seem really cool only to end up not liking it. We agreed we'd drink our bottles completely, and they each bought us our own glass bottle of fizzy, flavored water. We were walking along, and a part of the sidewalk happened to be uneven. Being the graceful one, my toe caught the part that was sticking up and down I went. It probably took me a whole 3 seconds to get from the upright position to laying flat on my face, yet somehow, I managed to find time to hold my little arm up straight in the air as to not drop my bottle of precious water. Obviously, I didn't catch myself, but the good news was that I didn't waste my water. Not a single drop fell out of that bottle, and luckily, for me, I was quiet resilient since this was a usual occurrence.
Sometimes in life, we take a fall. It's true. We're walking right along and the next thing we know, we're lying flat on our faces. If we're lucky, not too many people were around to witness it. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. And the truth is, those who were there to witness it usually pass it on to those who weren't, and it seems that everyone knows. And so you have to options. You can stay down, rolling around in misery and shame, making it a bigger deal that it has to be. Or, you can get up. You can dust yourself off, you can hold you head high, and you can breathe out a sigh of relief that you're okay. Because even though the fall hurts, you have to get up at one point or another. And sure, people might laugh, they might gossip, and you might feel a little awkward, but let me tell you a secret. Everybody falls. It's true. Everybody falls. And so it's not really the fall you need to be concerned about. We all go down the same way. The difference, the thing that will be most noticed, is how we get up from it.
Choose to respond with grace. Choose to get up, hold your head high, and give God the glory. Thank Him that no fall is too hard for Him to redeem. It might hurt, but the sting will go away. You might be injured, broken, and bruised, but He'll heal you. Your scars will become a story, and it will be worth sharing. Learn, grow, and let God use it. Let God use you. Move forward with gratitude, not bitterness. Continue on in His mercy, not your shame. It's okay to fall. We've all been there. Get back up, keep pressing on, and let God steady your feet going forward.
#885 - Because no fall is too hard for Him to redeem.
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." - Psalm 143:10
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