Does Delayed Action Set You Up for Failure?

Have you ever made a promise that was extremely difficult to keep? Most everyone will surely answer with a firm, yes. Perhaps it’s time to reassess your situation since keeping a promise back then was too problematic. However, delaying to take responsibility now will not dissolve feelings of guilt and shame.

Failing to keep a promise to yourself, others, and God often gives birth to negative consequences that can follow you for a lifetime. The most persistent emotions to surface after guilt and shame are anxiety and fear. To clear your conscience, it’s critically important to apologize and seek forgiveness.

This crucial step will include some degree of suffering but listen to Psalm 119:49-50. “O Lord, remember your promises to me your servant. They have given me hope. Even in my suffering I was comforted because your promise gave me life.” As you determine to keep your promises now, the Lord God will be your source of strength and courage to do what is right.    

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God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

~2 Peter 1:4 Contemporary English Version

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Finding Comfort in Hope

It would be regrettable for a person to go through life and never experience grief and sadness because that person would never know what it means to be comforted. Jesus acknowledged, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." Isaiah identified Jesus as "a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief."

Jesus experienced great sorrow as he faced what lay in store for him on the cross. Yet it is difficult for us to heal from grief when memories of great loss keep surfacing. Jeremiah endorsed this truth but confirmed that hope and comfort are also available.

Listen to Jeremiah's words. "When I remember my affliction and bitterness my soul is downcast. Yet, then I remember the Lord’s great love and I have hope because I am not crushed. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness." When memories of the past renew sorrow and grief in you, quickly recall the compassion God extends to you through Christ Jesus and rejoice.  

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Remember your promise to me, your servant; it has given me hope. Even in my suffering I was comforted, [Lord], because your promise gave me life.

~Psalm 119:49-50 Good News Bible

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Stifled by Grief?

We're never too old to be creative. What stifles creativity is being overloaded with expectations and self-imposed limitations. Managing daily routines like a career, family and home diminish the desire to be creative. Creativity requires a positive challenge to fire up the flow of new ideas.

One deterrent to creativity is grief, especially when several losses are experienced simultaneously without an opportunity to focus on each one individually. A middle-aged man related how he went through divorce, job loss and a move from his home, all within one month. It's difficult to be creative if the heart and mind are burdened down with emotional issues.

Jesus makes it clear that grieving is to be encouraged. Listen to Matthew 5:4. "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Jesus not only gives us permission to grieve but promises comfort when we do. To be comforted implies allowing healing and hope for the future as well as the blessing of creativity being restored.

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How happy are those who know what sorrow means, for they will be given courage and comfort!

~Matthew 5:4 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English

Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

~Psalm 119:49-50 New International Version