We Are Still Useful To God

48 Comments

1. Thanks you for sharing this devotional . It is just what I needed to hear this morning. Today is my birthday, March 2nd and I would love to win a copy of your book to share with my daughter whose birthday was March 1st.

   1. Thank you for making me stop and think today.

2. This is so refreshing.. and so true!

   1. This is such a hard topic. When I fail, I tend to hit replay over and over in my head and berate myself with what I should have done, said differently. It turns into shame. And the wordt failures creep back in when I’m least expecting it to remind me that I’m a screw up. And then if I’m in the right state of mind, I can throw some of God’s truths at them about who he says I am. But sometimes I forget and that leads to a lot of negative thinking at best and times of depression at worst.

   2. Past and current Failure + Fear= Questioning and second guessing myself and try to hide when I have an A type artistic personality LOL
      Then Jesus my Lord brings to mind as He prayed for Peter “I have prayed for you that your faith eill not fail!” That He has a purpose even in this for me to look up and not in and out.

3. I have been praying through my continuous failures in my marriage asking God to help me! Thank you for this timely devotion!

   1. Hi Wendy. I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your devotional today. God is a great God and he’s an on time God and this is a message that I definitely needed. Through my life I’ve had many disappointments failures and discouragement many things have happened from bad choices I made and things out of my own control. I had rested all blame of eveything on myself for along time. I have a major fear of commitment in anything I do because of being afraid of failure. Recently I’ve been asked to join a recovery program in order to be able to share my testimonies of Trials tribulations and my faith through God and what he’s brought me through. I’m stepping out in fear believing with my faith that God will make a way for me to be able to successfully do this. If your book is anything like the devotional that you have posted today I believe it is something that I would be able to use as a great resource to help me through this program and to be able to share insight with others so I would be honored to have a copy of it. May God continue to bless you with the great gift to help others and in your life!

4. There was a time when I would internalize the failures I experienced, rest chocolate (or have a drink), and whine to anyone who would listen about the injustice that I suffered. If I was feeling “sanctified”, maybe throw a few words up to God.
   The last few months have been a working and reworking of who I was/am. Jesus is working on me, and it hurts. But it’s also rewarding. I find myself praying more when I experience a failure, and pressing in. I’m working on spending more time in the word, and seeking his presence. I’m still a work in progress with all of this, but I have realized that the work is completely necessary. I was not the person I thought I was.

5. I respond to failure by fear and wanting to give up. I needed this today. God can and will use my failures for his plan and purpose. I need to keep on keeping on and trust God is watching over me and has a perfect plan for me despite my weaknesses. Thanks for encouraging me today!

6. Oh boy does the enemy try to steal, kill and destroy our potential to be used by God. Wendy, your P31 devotion and this post are just what I needed to read today. Thank you for sharing the message God placed on your heart through Hidden Potential. I can’t wait to read it! Thank you for the giveaway.

7. I love this so much, “God knows ahead of time what wrong we will do, yet still chooses us to participate in His kingdom work.”

   1. I sometimes think, I have failed Him so many times what could He possibly want to do with me?? Then your devotion came along and reminded me…thank you! I also have to remind myself that I can’t “work” myself into His good graces, Jesus already did that for me on the cross. ?

   2. Just yesterday I was telling myself how much I’ve messed up and I was greatly discouraged and plain disappointed in myself. This book might help those negative voices have no say.

8. I just came from a ladies conference that talked a lot about our potential. We see ourselves differently then God sees us. Thank you for the reenforcement today.

9. Failure was something I was not familiar with until, I had to submit my resignation from my RN Administrator position at the surgical center (SC). I began working the SC in 2010 as the, Risk Manager/Infection Control Nurse. I also was a RN Circluator in the Operating Room. While working at SC I learned Pre-Admissions and Recovery Room. In 2015 I was promoted to Administrator. Due to the stressors of the job I began having seizures and that is why I had to retire the position early. I felt and still feel like such a failure. I feel like I let my staff, our, doctors, our, owners, and our patients down. There was so much responsibility in that job and I wanted so much to do well. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t try hard enough? Was I trying to do too much alone? Was I not strong enough for the position? Did I not make enough time for myself then maybe I would not have had this type of out come? Maybe I just wasn’t good enough or smart enough?

   Prior to this I always advanced in every job to a manager/ supervisor position. I never had any type of neurological issues before. I always was able to deal with stress. However, I was never a RN before holding in any of these positions.

10. Hi. Wow. I am sitting here wondering what is so wrong with me that i failed at a job i love. Why again did God didnt help me. EVERY DAY I Prayed for patience and guidance to do my job to best of ability and to help me take tension and negativity at work personally. But i always shelled off when tension became to much and at times lose patience with boss. But i kept prayong and trying to be my best. To No Avail cuz I Failed

11. seems like a constant cycle in my life, fear, lay-down, let-go, trust, be renewed in faith, peace;fear, lay-down, let-go, trust, be renewed in faith, peace; praying for a faith that can let go and continue to grow in trust and find true peace in Him

12. Thanks for sharing this devotional. I have felt like a failure since my preteen years. I am now married for 35 years and am a grandma to 3. I would appreciate having a copy of your book. Learning that I have a purpose, even though I’m fractured and full of faults, is something I struggle with often. I would like to pass on this encouragement to our 3 daughters and our grandchildren.

13. This book sounds like something I need right about now! ??❤️

14. I would love to win a copy of this book. I fall into the trap more often than I would like of negative self talk. I want to learn from my mistakes and realize my potential as God does

15. Wow Thank you, thank you for writing this book. I read your devotion on Proverbs 31 Ministries . This one rally hit home. I did answer yes to your questions. I can now understand better what I have been going through and how to better go forward. I looked up 1 Thessalonians 5:24 and also read vs. 23 ‘Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely ,may Your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ( ESV) Thanks for your prayer.

16. Your devotional on Proverbs 31 spoke to me this morning. Gotta admit, lots of times, I just zip through them and then hit delete, but yours was different. I felt like you relate to me, in all my failures and disappointments. Thank you for your wise words. I just might read your book all the way through!

17. I’m pretty decent at learning from my failures. But my current struggle is accepting that I don’t want my husband back anymore. He left 6 months ago. Two months ago, I discovered he’s a narcissist and realized that’s connected to nearly 2 decades of emotional abuse I’ve endured & wasn’t even aware of it. I don’t want that abuse anymore. But I married for life, and it’s difficult to forgive myself for letting him go.

18. Thank you Wendy for your encouraging words. I am in a difficult place in my life; God is taking me deeper. Grateful, and painful!

19. I try to avoid failure by not taking on anything that I think will be a failure. I shy away from doing anything new. I am working on this but it is a struggle.

    1. With God, the idea or project, if it’s His idea, is not for us to worry about. But it is for us to obey.
       It’s basically giving God permission to work through us, when we obey Him.
       It’s not our job to assess the outcome; we can give thanks that it is in His competent hands, and He will bless you for being obedient.
       I love your honesty, and I love that you shared. I hope that you will take the next baby step without fear of failure; see the smile of God the Father whenever you obey Him, no matter what!

20. “Failure is a great teacher…. Failure can be a powerful force in our life, but not more powerful than our God.”
    Your truth-filled words need to be heard by everyone! The enemy schemes for us to be squelched by shame. But God has made a way for sinners to be transformed and empowered through the very failures that would normally undo us. I see this every day In the man I married nearly 33 years ago. He messed up big-time and was unfaithful to me for13 years. I can still hardly believe it. It’s been 4 years since Dday, filled with heart ache and hard work by both of us. But I have seen him transform into a man of God with a deep faith that would not have been possible without his failures. He embraced God‘s and my forgiveness and chose to not be stuck in shame. Our marriage is better than ever, we are passionately in love, and we will renew our vows this year. What the enemy meant for evil, God can use for good – but we need to cooperate with Him. I am currently trusting Him with other similarly devastating situations. If God did it once, he can do it again…so I wait in faith and prayer. Thank you for your devotional!

21. I am so thankful as we turn to God we are defined by HIM and HIS love for us & HIS forgiveness of our failure and SIN. He is in control of my potential and I must trust Him and work with Him to reach my potential for HIS GLORY! What could be more freeing than clinging to HIS WORD to refine & define us! Lovely article! ?❤️?❤️

22. I really want to see what God see’s both in me and in my husband. I tend to judge us both rather than looking at things thru Gods eyes.

23. Thanks for this: ” No matter how often we fail, we are still useful to God.” I feel like all I ever do is fail. Yet, somehow by God’s grace, I get up and face a new day. Thank you Wendy for the encouragement.

24. Thank you for this message. Really struggling today with this.

25. Thank you so much! I needed today’s devotional, and has given me much to think about. I respond by withdrawing–I pull up the drawbridge to my heart so no one can enter my castle or scale the walls. This keeps me from getting hurt further, but I also realize it isolates me. At 62 years old, I’m tired of dealing with hurts, especially those my pastor & church family have dealt me–latest one was 1 year ago this month. So I’ve been keeping my distance, and staying on the perimeters and not getting involved. I attend a very small church (less than 100) in a rural area, so ministry opportunities w/in church are very small. Easier to just withdraw, even from God and His Word, even though I know He is my sustainer; But I do love Him. Would like to win a copy of this book, which is why I decided to share my thoughts. Thank you again for your devotional today.

26. Thank you so much for this. It is exactly what I needed to hear. I’ve been defining myself as a failure for a long time and thought that God must be so disappointed in me for not living up to my potential. I think I should read your book as well.

27. I so needed to hear this message today. I’ve been feeling like a failure and wondering why the Lord hasn’t been answering my prayers, so thank you for this message.

28. I usually find a place to have a good cry in private. Then I review all the scripture that tells me that God wants to do a good work in me.
    Then I talk to Him and thank Him for never leaving or forsaking me, claim that I can do all things through Him, then give Him permission to go to work on me. Then I start listening, a little better, each time I fail, so that I can obey Him more completely.

29. I respond to failure with disappointment in myself, shutting down, trying to get pity from others and running away from it instead of facing it with the help of God. Through prayer, God’s help and his word I will overcome this. Thank you for your devotional I sure needed it today.

30. I loved your devotional on Proverbs 31 today. Even the convicting question that cut right to my heart. I really hope to read your book and join the Bible study. You are so missed at Proverbs 31. I’ve been going back and doing all the experience guides and First 5 lessons for each and I love seeing your name and hearing your voice! Thanks for making such a difference in my life.

31. My coworkers and I have started The Purpose Driven Life devotional. I feel this is going to help me with this devotional. Thank you for having those and sharing with us.

32. Thank you for sharing. I am sure many woman do, struggle with fear and failure. I was married 25 years. My husband left me for a woman on the internet. I lost so much in the years that followed financially, emotionally and my self esteem. I have for awhile felt numb when it comes to a relationship with God or even others. This isn’t a good place to be. I want to feel alive again in Christ. How do I go about doing this?

33. Wow! I needed to read this today! Younger me never believed I was good enough to do anything. I am much better with this today, due to my faith, but still struggle daily. I would love to read your book, and also share it with my daughter. She struggled with anorexia in high school and college, and I later found out that she too, constantly compared herself to others. Thank you for sharing your insight on this. God never gives up on us!

34. I try my best to remind myself that I’m not perfect nor will I ever be. The most important reminder I use is the Word of God. I journal it or put it on index cards for a portable reminder.

    1. You had me at ‘Drop the mic’.

35. Failure. Hmmm. Boy that word’s definition has changed for me through the years. In my twenties, it meant the end of the world…days of crying and ice cream eating watching tear jerker movies. In my thirties, failure had more to do with what I did wrong in a situation and how could I’ve had made it better. And now in my forties, I have learned that fearing failure is a failure. We grow in failing, no matter how badly the tears burn and no matter how many scoops we eat. At 45, it’s so not about making everyone happy and creating this force field that somehow makes people think that I’m perfect. I’m not. I believe if we, particularly women, show each other that we fail, mess up and forget things , the “failure barometer” would cease to exist. We wouldn’t wreck ourselves as women playing the endless comparison game. We would rise higher knowing failure is what makes us equal.

36. I usually feel defeated

37. Wonderful Devotion! Thank you so much for your powerful words!

    “God designed our faith to be Christ-centered, Spirit-led and Word-fed. Somehow, so many of us have gotten off track.
    We spend our energy trying to conquer our fears, correct our faults, get over our failures and accept our frailties, only to discover we still have fears, faults, failures and frailties.”

38. Thank you for the devotional and for writing the book on such important topic. I think we all need encouragement in this area. I do for sure, as a recovering perfectionist 🙂 – failures are hard to get over at times. I am glad God can still use us despite it (and thank you for this reminder! 🙂 ) and that He still choosing to use us even though He knows we’ll fail over and over again, especially if it’s in the same area. I am glad these examples of failure were included in the Bible for us to read and know about (you mention Moses, but also David and his mistakes, or Sarah, etc.- but God still used this big times and loved them despite all their mistakes and failures).
    I could definitely learn how to get up faster and continue on my journey whenever I fail at something, instead of dwelling on it or getting discouraged.

39. Thank you for sharing this! This has been an exhausting week for me and it seems my fears and past failures rise up with a vengeance when I am tired and have little strength to fight back. This reminds me I don’t need to do the fighting. God is using me through all of it!

40. I just discovered your site through Ann Voskamp. How often does fear of failure keep us from fulfilling God’s best for us? I don’t like stepping outside my comfort zone, but when I do, even in small ways, I realize the blessing that was awaiting me. I have a fear of the unknown, of not being qualified for the task, of messing up, saying the wrong thing. All of this must be given to God for my good and His glory. I’m thankful that He is patient with me and that I’m a work in progress! Exodus 4:10-12

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