Session 4

When you fear you’ve let God down

From Philippians: A 4-Day Devotional

Chained to a secret addiction.

Trapped in a dark depression.

Feeling the weight of past mistakes or the effects of a failing marriage.

When everything seems to be falling apart, and we are certain we have let God down, grace intervenes and reminds us the story isn’t over yet. It’s only an intermission.

Paul’s life was certainly not going the way he had planned when he found himself alone in a prison cell. Yet, in Philippians 1:4-6 he wrote, “I always pray with joy… being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”

Your circumstances may not look good today. (They certainly weren’t for Paul!) Yet we can have joy and confidence knowing if it’s not good, God’s not done.

Not only is God not done with you, He wants to use the very circumstances you are struggling through today. In Philippians 1:12-14 we are reminded that God can use even the difficult things that happen to us to draw us closer to Him. Not only that, but often because of our chains, people will come to know Christ.

Your mistakes, your failures, and your heartache are part of your story. And when you fear you have let God down, grace trades our shame for courage, knowing our pain is not wasted and God is bigger than the circumstances we feel “chained’ to right now.

Reflect:

• Is there something in your past that seems impossible to overcome?
• How does knowing God’s not done with you change the way you look at the future?
• What’s one way you can extend that same grace to someone else this week?