SAY GOOD-BYE TO YESTERDAY

 “Say Good-bye to Yesterday”

“For a righteous person may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. (Proverbs 24:16).  

Christians are not “perfect”.  We are forgiven and we have the presence of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit, but we will all still make mistakes and fail ourselves and others from time to time.

The first step in saying good-bye to yesterday, is to acknowledge to ourselves and to the Lord that we have failed.  “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.”          (Psalms 51:1-3).  Feeling like you are the victim and blaming others for failures in your life will not allow you to put your past behind you. Change your response to failure by accepting responsibility.  To move forward today, you must learn to say good-bye to yesterday’s hurts, tragedies, and negative events.

Next, understand that God loves you right now for who you are.  You cannot do anything to make God love you more than He does right now.  I know that it is a hard concept to accept because others do not love and accept us unconditionally, but God does.  “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1).  He demonstrates that love by continually forgiving us and giving us opportunities to start over.  “The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, (Psalms 103:17).

Finally, in this process determine to release the event and move on.  You do not have control over how other people feel about you or what you have done, but you do have power to control your response to the event.  Holding grudges and repeated the event to yourself and others will only prolong the pain.  “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” (Philippians 3:13).

Many people before you have failed in business, relationships, and in accomplishing personal goals.  The average entrepreneur fails 4 times before they make it in business.  They have learned how to lemons in to lemonade.  Thomas Edison believed “ Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”.

When we don’t what to do, then we need to ask God for guidance, because He does know the solution to our problems and can help us overcome failure.   “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5).  I would like to share a few strategies that successful men and women have learned in overcoming failure.2

• Reject Rejection.  Do not give up because others think you have failed.  The Lord has not given up on you. “For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6).
• Don’t blame God and others for your failures.  He is the source of your help, not the source of your problem.   Remember how far you have come and give God glory for what you have.  Remember Job’s attitude about failure. “And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:21-22).
• See failure as only a temporary problem.  “For a righteous person may fall seven times and rise again.” (Proverbs 24:16).  
• Keep your expectations realistic and achievable.  Ask for God’s will to be done in your life. “You ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:15).
• Instead of dwelling on your failure, focus on your strengths. God has made you with special abilities and made you for a special purpose. “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” (Psalms 139:14).
• Don’t be afraid to start over.  Fear will bring procrastination and eventually stop you from overcoming failure. If you have the Lord Jesus in your heart, He will help you start over. “But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27).
• Don’t get used to failure and make the same mistakes over and over again. “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you will always get what you’ve always gotten”.

A great future is awaiting the children of God in this world and the one to come - Don't Quit – Don’t Give Up.  The Lord is on your side.