So….I am going to the beach soon. I know. I’m so lucky. Blessed. Amazingly grateful. Did I mention it was close to 25 degrees below zero when I got up this morning? And they’re predicting 5-8 inches of snow for tomorrow? Anyway…..
In light of that, I’ve been more focused on eating healthy. Avoiding sweets. Eating salads. Having to put on shorts and a bathing suit in less than 2 weeks is great motivation.
But this morning, I failed miserably. Instead of my healthy steel cut oats with almonds and warm lemon and honey water, I had lemon crinkles and milk. You heard me. I had milk and cookies for breakfast.
I even posted my failure on Facebook for all to see with the hashtag #iwilldobettertomorrow.
And then I thought….why do I have to wait for tomorrow? Today wasn’t a complete failure! Today just started. Breakfast may have been a washout, but today can still be saved.
In Matthew 26, Jesus takes his best friends Peter, James and John to the Garden of Gethsemane with Him. He asked them to help Him pray. They’ve always been there for Him before, and He really needed them now.
And they failed. Miserably. They didn’t pray. They fell asleep. So He woke them up and said, “Can’t you even watch with Me one hour? Keep watch and pray.”
But did they listen? Noooo. They went back to sleep. Three times He found them sleeping. Three times they failed.
But did Jesus write them off? No. Did He tell them to try again tomorrow? No! Did He say to them, “Ugh. I can’t even depend on you. You’re worthless, good-for-nothing friends. Why did I even bother asking you? I’ll just do it myself!”
No. He woke them up and said, “Get up. Let’s go. There’s work to be done.”
Just because I messed up breakfast doesn’t mean the whole day is a wash for healthy eating. It just means I need to focus back in and make good choices for the rest of the day.
One bad moment doesn’t make the whole day a failure. Or our whole life.
Just because we missed it once (or in their case three times) doesn’t mean we’re a complete failure.
Our mistakes don’t define us. It’s what we do after making a mistake that defines us.
We can wallow in it. Not the healthiest choice. Depressed much?
We can let it sidetrack us and pull out of the race. Not a good choice either.
Or we can get up, dust ourselves off, and keep moving forward.
Making a mistake doesn’t make you a failure. Quitting does.
So don’t quit. Get up and let’s go! You have a destiny and there’s work to be done.