What has God taught me from Failure?

On page 292 on The Purpose Driven Life written by Rick Warren he lists seven questions that are great to ask yourself every ten years. I love these questions.

1. What has God taught me from failure?

·         That He delights to use anything to mature me. My maturity is everything to Him and He is wonderfully committed to that development. He is committed to my growth and maturity. 

·         He has also taught me what does not work no matter how much you wish it, want it, pray for it, hope for it, spend for it. He is God and is God all by Himself. Sometimes He says "No!." And He means it. And He does not have to explain His no, I must obey it without question.

·         That there are certain people who will love me in spite of the failure. Their love for me will not change. I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by such people. Beginning with Gabi and then continuing with my children, Andrew, Tori and Luke. Wow, I have been horribly blessed beyond measure. This child of God better shut up the complaining and let loose the praise and gratitude for the rest of his days! Psalm 50 - thanksgiving is the key.

·         Failure is not fatal. Failure is actually a good thing. It means I tried. It means I risked. It means I moved. Failure is strangely familiar as a friend not an enemy. Failure is an event and not a relationship. Relationships are crucial to life and events are not crucial to life, living and love. I do not celebrate the failure but the lessons learned and the courage celebrated. 

The Gift of Grief

When a parent does fulfill the Heart Longings that God breathed in us we experience a breath of grief. If we have a safe place to spiritual breathe, we exhale the breath through grieving however is appropriate for our age. However, if we do not have a safe place to express our grief we swallow the grief. Like manna in the Old Testament, it begins to go bad on us. Left for a season it produces anger, then bitterness and then erupts into rage. We have to use a lot of emotional energy to keep the grief down in our souls, locked away. This exahaustion can lead to depression and mental health issues. It is neccesary to release the grief breath. It will hurt just to release the breath almost as much as if it just happened. This is why most of don't want to deal with our past issues. BUT if we don't then our heart is not available for us to love and we live life by our mind and emotions - an extremely exhausting life. God gave the grief as a gift and in expressing the grief He promises that He will exchange the grief for joy. Not happiness but a sense of peace that goes beyond the mind's ability to grasp.