God, Where Did I Go Wrong?

January 16, 2012 by Mari-Anna Stålnacke | 10 Comments

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Do you ever wonder how on earth you ended up messing up things once again? Especially when you thought you had asked God’s blessings on your projects? How did everything go wrong when you thought God was in your team?These questions used to haunt me, too. Until I laid them to the Lord and asked him to explain me where I had gone wrong. How could I have avoided these pitfalls? How could I have made wiser decisions?

The answer to these questions was almost too simple. When I honestly looked back at my mistakes I realized that every time I’ve had ended up messing up things I had proceeded with my life without truly consulting the Lord. Just like Joshua and the israelites. “They didn’t ask for any decision from the LORD.” (Joshua 9:14, CEB)

Instead I had brought my decisions and plans to the Lord to be blessed and thought I was covered. But that’s not the way it works. We are to go to God without any ready-made plans. We are to ask for guidance with open minds and hearts. And we are to listen first and foremost to God and not other people. We need to grow our confidence in God and become bold in following his Word no matter what is popular in our neighborhood. We can be certain God’s will is not something that goes against the Bible.

It is great that we believe in God and we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. But we need to apply our beliefs into our lives! And also Jesus needs to be our Lord (not “just” our Savior) whom we obey. When we live what we believe we start acknowledging God in everything we do. Then we truly live by faith not by our own intelligence.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
don’t rely on your own intelligence.
Know him in all your paths,
and he will keep your ways straight.
(Proverbs 3: 5-6, CEB)

The more I rely on God, the more I pray. The more I pray, the more connected to God I become. We don’t need to retreat to pray for hours before every single decision we ever make. We just need to learn to pray as we go. By uttering a simple “Help me, God” prayer we acknowledge God and ask for his wisdom as we tackle the problems as they rise.

But, of course, when it comes to making big life decisions and plans, we might need to pray, listen, and wait for the answers quite some time. But when we start things with God, we can rest assured that God will be with us all the way. Life is so complicated that there is no way we can know what’s best for us. But when God Almighty is the One who is directing our paths we know he will keep our ways straight. This does not, of course, mean that even if we are in the center of God’s will, there would never be any problems in our lives. But we know even then “that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, CEB)

Gracious God,
Forgive us for being head-strong, stubborn, and unyielding.
Be literally our Lord and Savior.
Come and be our everything.
Guide us, direct our paths
because only You know what’s best for us.
Show us how to live out our faith.
Show us how to apply your Word into our lives.
Show us how to live in your grace.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How have you learned to apply your faith into your life?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you learn to rely on God in everything!

Giving thanks today for
#15 God’s guidance
#16 the Holy Spirit speaking to us
#17 God’s forgiveness
#18 new beginnings
#19 God’s loving-kindness
#20 spiritual growth
#21 Our God who personally cares for each of us
#22 spiritual friendships
#23 the Word of God
#24 God’s presence in our lives
#25 Our prayer-hearing God
#26 We have not been left to manage on our own
#28 The Holy Spirit dwelling in us
#29 Grace working in us
#30 God’s Light shining on us

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The eight WINNER of the Common English Bible softcover edition is Courtney!

Do you want to win a copy of the Common English Bible softcover edition? Just leave a comment on any blog post this week (or any week during the blog tour). The winner will be announced again on Monday!

All these CEB give aways are possible because I am participating in the Common English Bible Blog tour. During the next two months I will mostly be using the Common English Bible (CEB) on my blog posts. Let’s check out this fresh new Bible translation!

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Image courtesy of Megan Watson.
Linking up today with Sharing His Beauty &Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday &

Anonymous

I found your site, linking from Graceful, and enjoyed reading your post.

I’ve learned that even when we seek God’s will and proceed according to His plan, things often turn out quite differently than we hoped or expected. Sometimes we’re disappointed in the outcome, and have to learn that His ways are higher than ours, before we can see that He was orchestrating events according to His plan, all along.

Blessings!

http://www.flowingfaith.com Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke

Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Joseph! Yes, God’s ways are indeed different -and much higher and better- than ours! Learning to trust God even when things are not going to our liking is essential. Because chaos is never God’s last word. Better things ahead! Abundant blessings to you!

http://www.mamaworkinprogress.blogspot.com Courtney Buxton

So excited to have won the Common English Bible – thank you! Can’t wait to start using it to enhance my time in the Word. Thank you! Also, love your thoughts here. It is so hard to be open to where God leads us, especially when we have our own ideas about how things should work. Thanks for these good thoughts.

http://www.flowingfaith.com Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke

Congratulations, Courtney! I am so glad you are excited! I love reading different translations, they all bring some unique gifts! Thank you also for your feedback. It is indeed hard to be open but once we’ve tasted the goodness of God (and experienced the messes we’ve made) nothing else will eventually do! God’s best blessings to you on your faith journey!

http://lisanotes.blogspot.com Lisa notes

Thanks for this encouragement, Mari-Anna. I’m currently asking for God’s guidance to discern how much or little time I need to spend on blogging.

http://www.flowingfaith.com Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke

Thank you for sharing, Lisa! I pray for your discernment. May God show you HIS solution and plan!

http://amylsullivan.blogspot.com/2012/01/false-motivators.html Amy Sullivan

Faith is always difficult for me (I like to see and know and be certain….hmmm, control? Uh, yes!). But, faith has also proved to be a comfort for me. It allows me take some of the burnden I carry around off my shoulders and place them on God’s.

http://www.flowingfaith.com Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke

Thank you, Amy, for sharing your thoughts! Faith is indeed a wonderful gift…but we can’t capture it for good, we need to ask for more all the time. We can’t fake it or make it. But if we ask, God will give us more. And more. And more. But then we are asked to go and bless others. Abundant blessings to you, sis, on your faith adventures!

http://www.thebeautyinhisgrip.com/ Joan Davis

So true! When we come to God with our hopes and dreams, it is important to have an open mind to His leading and to His plan! In my life, it’s when I’ve run ahead of Him that I run into trouble! It is crucial to consult Him (and heed His advice) in everything we do!

http://www.flowingfaith.com Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke

Oh, yes! Thank you, Joan, for sharing your thoughts and experiences. God is so good! God’s strong guidance and blessings to you!