I Blew It

Greetings from Jacksonville, Florida—where it’s been raining since Tuesday because of Tropical storm Fay (one of the most indecisive storms known to man).

83,000 people were without power in Jacksonville on Thursday. Bridges were closed. Trees were down. But it was nothing serious compared to what we usually see here in Florida during hurricane season.

Maybe it’s the weather with its dark skies, rain and wind, but I’m feeling more reflective than usual and want to ask:

How do you feel about yourself today? Is it thumbs up or thumbs down?

Face it, we have those days when we’re proud of ourselves because of the growth we’re making...and then there are those other days when it seems we’re right back where we started.

What do you do when you feel crumby about yourself because you’ve blown it or lost it?

This is what you do: You receive grace.

Let me tell you about something that happened to me on Thursday. It was the end of the work day and I had a quick errand to run—had to take something to FedEx.

I was in the car and stopped at the yield sign to the highway on-ramp. Jennifer and Garrison were with me. It was clear to my left. But just as I was about to access the on-ramp, Jennifer said, “Car!”

A car was mistakenly using our on-ramp as a highway off-ramp!

After it passed by, we turned onto the on-ramp, but a stream of cars started curling off of the highway and headed right at us because they were using our on-ramp as their off-ramp.

After a couple of near misses, I was TICKED! My wife and son were with me and these drivers/goobers were putting my family in danger.

I can’t tell you the last time I was that angry—and I wasn’t shy about it either—I’m pretty sure those drivers had a good idea about how I felt.

As it turned out, the bridge two miles down the highway was closed because of 55 mph gusts from the storm and a sailboat that had crashed into it.

With the bridge shutdown, the highway was backing up—which was why these cars were exiting the highway via MY ON-RAMP!

But I didn’t know all of this until AFTER I got trapped in the traffic and heard on the radio about what was happening with the bridge and the highway being shut down.

So, what could I do? First thing I did was call the police to tell them about the little make-shift detour that nearly led to our head-on collision (the police were there within minutes and put a stop to it).

Second thing I did was sit in traffic for 90 minutes, fuming most of the time.

Multiple police navigated the knotted up traffic and funneled three lanes into one, routing everyone on a detour over surface streets.

When I got to FedEx, the truck was almost finished loading up and getting ready to leave. We just made it.

I’ve been thinking about that experience the past couple of days. And the only reason I’m sharing it is because I think you’re human like me and have probably felt crumby about yourself, too, at some time in your life.

But no matter what happened, you have to give yourself permission to accept and experience God’s grace.

Surrender any feelings of disappointment or regret to Him. Why? Because when things like that happen, know this: God isn’t finished with you yet.

You might think He is. You might even think He should be. But think again.

“God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Philippians 1:6).

What kind of work is God doing?

A good work.

When will it be finished?

When Jesus comes again.

God isn’t finished with you yet, {!firstname_fix}, (and He’s not with me, either, if Thursday’s little incident is any indication).

It’s not really about you or me but about God’s work of grace in us. So with that in mind, go ahead and give yourself a thumbs up because your life is a work in progress...and God knew the scope of the work when He accepted the job

Dedicated to Your Spiritual Freedom,

Lynell

August 24, 2008 | Permalink | del.icio.us | StumbleUpon | | |