Falling, Failing and Focus

Well Ladies and Gentlemen,

Two weeks from today I hop on a plane to France. Though, I doubt I will do any real hopping because I am indeed a klutz. My sister broke her foot hopping once, and I am far less agile than her, so I have sworn off hopping.

Walking however, cannot be avoided. And let me tell you friends, I do not even do that well. =) See, God used walking, and falling this week to teach me a lesson. I was walking across a street and went to step on a curb and I missed. I had taken my eyes off what I was doing. I was distracted and I hit the ground; hard.

My knee was all scraped up and bleeding, and I felt like I was five and had just fallen off my bike for the first time. Yes, my knee hurts, and I have a lovely brush burn covering about half of my shin and my knee, but it was mostly my pride that hurt. It was dumb! I have been walking for 22 years, shouldn't I have the hang of it by now?!?! Sheesh!

God reminded me of something though. Falling is inevitable. Not just because I am a klutz, but because I am a sinner. When I get distracted from Christ, I trip in my walk. Sometimes I just trip a little and it reminds me to keep my eyes on Him, and sometimes I fall hard. Sometimes it hurts. The thing I need to remember is that everyone falls, it's what we do after that matters.

If I focus on my pain, my focus is not on Christ.

If I focus on the scar, my focus is not Christ.

If I focus on the fact that I did in fact fall, my focus is not on Christ.

See the point here? Fall are going to happen. I am going to fail (and boy do I HATE failing...) but falling and failing happens for a reason. It reminds me of where my focus should be. God is not going to leave me on the ground if I return my focus to Him. He is not going to point and laugh at me, and tell me to pull myself up by my bootstraps. The reality is, I cannot get up on my own lest I fell right back down. When I look to my Heavenly Father, he will lift me up and walk along side me, forgiving me for my stupidity. All I need to do is swallow my pride and ask.

It doesn't matter how many times I fall, God's grace is sufficient. He has never denied me grace, and he never will. I just need to humble myself and keep my focus on Him and Him alone.