Success and Failure Blog

Do you feel worthless?  Do you feel like you’re a mistake?  Don’t Believe It!

You are special – You are uniquely and beautifully made!

I remember as a child, my mother told me in the heat of an argument that she was sorry I was born.  When I was in my twenties, she told me the story how she tried to abort me 3 times.  These statements surely had a negative affect on me well into my 30s.  Thank God, he has healed me from the stings of these words.  Today, I look at these happenings in a very different way….despite the fact that my mom tried to abort me several times…God willed me into existence.  What incredible plan God must have for my life.  It made me also realize that my words might have hurt people and that we need to be careful about what we say to one another.  The subconscious can’t take a joke.

Words are one thing.  I can only imagine the abuse some of you might have had to endure.  Some of you might had to endure not only verbal abuse but also physical and sexual abuse.  Watching the movie “Precious” gave a glimpse of what that would be like.

Abuses like that can make you feel worthless and full of shame.  I understand that there are even symptoms of guilt with being sexually abused, making you feel like that somehow it’s your fault you have been abused.  Let me make it perfectly clear…these are all lies of the enemy, who wants nothing less than to kill and destroy you.  Don’t you believe it!

You are special!
There is only one like you and God has a plan for your life.  He willed you and me into existence.  Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about your and my existence.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  Psalms 139:13 (NKJV)

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 (NKJV)

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Matt 10:29-31 (NKJV)

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  Psalms 139:16-17 (NKJV)

God Loves You!
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:9-10 (NKJV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  ”For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  John 3:16-17 (NKJV)

God Can Help

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Prov 18:10 (NKJV)

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.  Isaiah 40:29 (NKJV)

He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.  Psalms 147:3 (NKJV)

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’  Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)

Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.  Matt 5:4 (NKJV)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  ”Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  ”For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matt 11:28-30 (NKJV)

New Beginnings
We can’t undo our past, at the same time however, we should not live with our false past identity.   I surely could have not done it myself.  God has not only healed me, but he has also given me a new identity…one that is based on my true identity that is in Christ.  As a Christian, we are no longer bound by our old identity…we’re a new creation.

Jesus is waiting.  Ask him to give you a new identity.  His word says…”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it wll be opened to you.  “or everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Matt 7:7-8 (NKJV)

Don’t ever give up, because God has not given up on you!  You can choose to cling to your loss or hurt, or you can , with the help from God, learn to dance again.  LET GO AND LIVE!

Check out this beautiful video You are Special – by Max Lucado

Also, check out our articles on We’re Created Different, But We’re All Useful, What is Heaven? A world better than Avatar’s Pandora, Can Your God Do This?, In The Wilderness, It’s not fair! But, why isn’t life fair? And, can it be?, The Comforting Word of God, Salvation, Success and Failure Articles,

I also found other blogs that relate to this subject like this one that talks about that Americans are more pro-life now than ever before…praise God.  Or this site Jill Stanek…a true fighter for the cause…go Jill.  Stay up to date about he abortion issue on Pro-Life with Christ and check out this new movie that is hitting theaters this fall called “True2LifeTheMovie“.  Here is a great site called Stand for Life…I love the video on “How to defeat a pro-abortion argument“.

What do we do when we find ourselves in the wilderness?  Let me define for you the word ‘wilderness’ before I proceed any further.  By ‘wilderness’, I am not talking about being in some kind of deserted place here.  Instead, I am referring to ‘spiritual wilderness’ – a dry season in a Christian’s life in which nothing seems to be going right.  It could even be a state in which everything – relationships, career, health, and so forth – falls apart.  Nothing seems to test a Christian’s faith more than a wilderness experience.

As a Christian, wilderness experiences are inevitable unless he/she is a lukewarm Christian who does not pose any threat to the kingdom of the devil. Having said this, I must add that I believe there are Christians who are blessed with a smooth-sailing life with no wilderness experience at all.  But nevertheless these Christians are in the rare minority.

A wilderness experience could be ordained by God to test a Christian’s faith.  It is also inevitable in God’s plan if He intends to use a Christian greatly in His kingdom.  The Bible is full of such examples.  Just take Moses for instance.  He had to spend forty years in the desert before God could use him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

To be honest, I hate to go through a wilderness experience.  To me, a wilderness experience is like being put ‘on hold’: nothing seems to be moving forward.  I cannot stand it, especially because I am someone who enjoys life in the fast pace and also because I am not a very patient person.   Just imagine yourself being put on hold when you make a phone call, or when you wait in queue at a post office and the staff seems to be taking forever to attend to a customer.  How does it feel like?

What should your response(s) be when you find yourself in the wilderness?  What kind of responses are pleasing to God? For me, my natural response is to complain about it. But I have learnt that complaining won’t help get me out of the wilderness.  Now, I am learning to praise God while I am in the midst of a wilderness experience.  I am learning the importance of not focusing my attention on the wilderness experience.  I am also learning to wait on God while in the midst of it.

For those of you who are experiencing wilderness in your lives right now, take heart.  Just fix your eyes on God and you can be sure that He will see you through it.

Copyright by Chan Hui Li Annie