So Discouraged

Have you ever been so beaten down, so discouraged, so plagued with the sense of failure that you asked God, “couldn’t I just start over from the beginning?”, or maybe you’ve prayed, “If only I had another chance, to begin with a clean slate.”

I remember watching the movie, “Back to the Future” where the star goes back in time and has the opportunity to change the way his life had turned out by making certain people in his past make different choices that give him in turn a better life. Would you do that if you could? Well, don’t get too excited, we can’t do that, but we do have something to rejoice about. No matter how “messed” up your life is, God has provided a way for you to begin again. One of His new mercies towards you today is new breath. If you are breathing today, you have an opportunity for God to make the rest of your days new and therefore change the course of your life.

Your failures do not determine your destiny when you are a child of God. David realized this when he poured out his heart to God after blowing it “big time”. In Psalm 51 we see him admitting to his sin and asking God to have mercy, blot out his transgressions, wash him, cleanse, teach, create a pure heart, renew His Spirit in him, restore joy, sustain him, save him, open his lips to praise, to make him brand new.

Listen to how Eugene Peterson expresses David’s prayer in Psalm 51:7-15 (The Message):

“Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and
I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
Set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close
For blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh
Start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in
Me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my
Sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can
Find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my
Salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.”

Do you want that? Read Psalm 51 this week and ask God to “shape a Genesis week from the chaos of your life!” He will, if only you ask. Remember your true hope is in Him.

Pastor MJ