2016 didn’t turn out at all like I expected it to. I entered January 1st with big expectations and well thought out plans, but I quickly realized that the coming year wasn’t following my ideas. If I am being completely honest, I feel like when January 1, 2017 comes, I will breathe a big sigh of relief that 2016 is finished. This past year was hard, and in many ways disappointing.

We can’t look to other people to find the hope that only Jesus can give us. We have all “failed” and fallen short of God’s glory. But the hope we have is this: Christ Jesus never fails.

Christine Caine once said, “Her success is not your failure.” Wow. Did that hit you in the gut like it did me? The success of other women (the amount of followers, the number of sales, the opportunities of others, the influence of others) is never to be compared with the task that God has set before you. Never. The dangers of this comparison game is that it sneaks its way into the church! Women in Bible studies and in areas of leadership compare their influence and styles with each other. It can happen even without us noticing it. After all, Satan’s ways are crafty, deceptive and cunning. He knows exactly where to shoot a dart at a us to make us crippled in what God has called us to do. 

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. {C. S. Lewis} Failure. Even just writing this word makes me cringe inside a bit. Anyone out there fear failing like me? To be clear, in my human perspective, I view failure as not reaching my expectations. The dictionary defines it as a “lack of success.” […]