When My Mind Says “Fail”

AllComingTogether

 

“My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises.” Psalm 57:7 (NLT)

 

Fail. It’s a word I’ve heard my kids use when something goes wrong. Just plain “fail”.

 

And it’s how I felt. In charge of an event, I had done all I knew to do to make the weekend what I would define as “successful”. According to my measurement, I had fallen so short.

 

Confused, I’d wondered why God didn’t help me. I was doing it for Him. You would think He would have stepped up and helped me. Now it was over and I found my mind swirling.

 

What did I do wrong? Maybe I’m just not cut out for this?

 

What I felt was anything but confident.

 

In today’s verse, David speaks of confidence. Confidence placed in the right source: “My heart is confident in you, O God.”

 

You might think when David wrote the words from today’s verse, life was going amazingly well. Ruling from his castle, eating chocolate and watching re-runs. Moments from marrying the king’s daughter and living “happily ever after”.

 

His reality, in fact, was so far from “well”. As he penned these words, he was literally running from a mad man who not only wanted to kill him, but also had the power to do so.

 

At least he was surrounded by family encouraging him and a spouse supporting him like I was. Friends telling him he would make it through like I had.

 

No, that wasn’t the case either. When David wrote the words, “my heart is confident in you, O God, no wonder I can sing your praises” he was hiding in a cave, with 400 guys who were also running from trouble, in debt or just plain discontented with life as they knew it.

 

Here, in this awful situation, David reaffirmed his security hadn’t changed; it was still built on God.

 

According to my study Bible, the word translated confident in the original Hebrew

means: set in place, make secure, to be made ready, be attached.

 

I love this last definition: be attached. I immediately get a mental picture of a girl with a boyfriend on her arm or a new bride. Her face glowing, she’s confident. She’s attached to someone and that someone cares deeply about her. This relationship brings her confidence.

 

David’s relationship brought him confidence as well. Despite his horrific circumstances, David experienced security because God was with him even in those circumstances.

 

God can make us brave whether life is all coming together or all falling apart. We can have a heart and mind that is set in place, secure, attached, even when our mind says “fail”.

 

Jesus, the way you define failure and the way we define failure is so very different. I know often my circumstances are a set up to teach me where is the secure place to build my confidence. Always and only on You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

This weekend, no matter what your circumstances may say, may your heart say, I am confident in You, O God.

 

Lynn

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your heart – we prayed for your conference – thanks for the Truth you share as a result of what, in your mind, seemed to be a fail. Several years ago, I attended a small church and was asked to lead a Bible study for women – 12 ladies showed up, had purchased the book, and were excited to begin. Each week, my prayer was that God would do His work, His way, bring those He was leading and prevent those who ought not be there. By the second week, one gal called and said she was disappointed in the study and wanted her money back for the book. Ouch! By the last 3 weeks of class, we were down to two – a sweet young Mom who I was able to pour into and build a friendship with. God comforted my heart, assuring me it was not a failure on my part and to continue to follow His lead. What a sweet gift to my heart! My friend and I finished the study (neither of us ‘thrilled’ with the study) and enjoyed the relationship God built that wouldn’t have happened if everyone was there.

  2. Thank you for admonishing my head, to turn to the One that is the source of who, and whose I am.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.