Sometimes It Takes Failure

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "Today is a good day for me to fail!" Chances are you haven't and chances are you won't. Who on God's green earth would want to fail? The answer is quite simple… No one.

We can't change our past, but we can strive to change our future. When we fail, God gives us a choice to stay down and out or rise again. "For the righteous fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity." Proverbs 24:16. God tells us, "My grace is enough!" He wants us to stand after we fall. Sometimes when we fail, its God telling us we weren't on the right path to begin with. By His grace, God will change that, even if it’s through our failures. Remember what Joseph tells his brother in Gen 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to save many lives." Strive to do good, but when you fail, remember God's grace and rise again. Don't stay defeated, learn and press on towards the goal.

-James Hagler (Aim, Scotland '09)

Trust God Even When It Hurts

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths."

You may think that your hurting is pointless, that giants you face are unconquerable, but no one ever stood on the mountain of God without first climbing it. God loves you and he wants the absolute best for you, he knows us, he understands us, and he wants us to trust him even when it hurts! Because as he says in Isaiah 55:8 "My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts." God tells us 'not to lean on our understanding', because we can't see the big picture! So when we don't trust God, we always are settling for less, even when we think that this is the best that life has to offer. Which is why he also says to 'acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight'. Acknowledge, that he is the Almighty God who loves you, trust he will do what he promises and he will guide you, he will straighten your paths! I know this because I have experienced this, I had and still have to trust God even when it hurts, even when I think I have a better way.

I grew-up a military brat, moving from state-state all my life. I grew-up without many friends, overtime I would make a few just to leave them. Most nights I'd be crying and praying to God for us not to move again so I could stay and make friends (which was difficult for me).

Do you know what God's answer was? We moved…twice…I felt I had been stabbed in the heart, it was horrible. However God had something better than I could have ever imagined. God's answer to me that night, wasn't a "no" but rather, "wait". God knows what he's doing and he knows the best way of going about it also. Right now, I'd say God is answering that prayer. Not he has answered it, but he is answering it. My dad retired and God lifted me from my despair. I met friends, good friends. But just when I thought, it couldn't get better than this, God sent me to AIM and I had met people I now can call brothers and sisters. God led me through my pain through my hurt and he's not through with me yet! He has a beautiful plan for me and its far greater than anything that I can imagine, he just wants me to trust him. Which is exactly what he wants you to do also. Trust God even when it hurts.

James Hagler (AIM, Scotland 09)