UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS – PERSONAL FAILURE

There is often a strong desire in us to succeed!  To win!  To excel! To be successful!  Yet sometimes we feel like a failure.  These feelings of failure can terrify us and take our hope away. We have all failed to meet our own expectations as well as those that others have of us.  How can we face failure in a healthy way?

This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV)

One form of failure we often walk with each day is the failure that comes from human limitation.  We set our goals too high.  We compete. We compare ourselves with others. When we can’t measure up to our own expectations or the expectations of others, we often end up feeling inadequate and disappointed in ourselves.  This can be painful and embarrassing. 

God knows our abilities and our limits. God invites us to live as the person He created us to be.  His expectation of us is that we will use what we have been given and do the very best we can within those limits.  When we try to be like someone else or live up to someone else’s standards we are not pursuing the plan that God has for our life. 

We were created to be a part of the community around us so it’s unrealistic to try and sort everything out on our own and try to make our own way in life.  No matter how hard we try we will fail because it is not good for us to be alone. We need the wisdom and power of God to live a fulfilling life.  We also need to cooperate with others to achieve the work God has planned for each of us to do, for the benefit of all. 

There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  (1 Corinthians 12:5-7 NLT)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I accept Your good, pleasing and perfect plan for my life and desire to thrive in the giftings that You have given me.  Strengthen and help me to do only those things that You have prepared in advance for me to do.  Amen