Friend, You’ve Got This: Set Apart to Finish Strong

Do you ever worry about missing the mark? REALLY messing up? Or even KNOWING you made the wrong battle move, and feel like a loser in God’s eyes?

Well if so, it just shows the heart you have for Jesus, and the desire you have to please Him. And, it’s with this topic that I’d like to end our series.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Strengthen Your Walk, and our study, “Friend, You’ve Got This!” I’m Kim Crabill and I’m so honored to have had you along with me in this series. More about that in a minute, but for those times when we feel we’ve really messed up, I have a little story for you …

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It’s a story about my son Trey, and it’s an old story. What I’m about to tell you happened over 25 years ago, but can I tell you, it’s meaning to me is so profound that well, I’m still talking about it.

Trey loved baseball. He was a pitcher and he could switch a fastball into a changeup that would make the batters cry. Scouts were always around to watch him play (it was a crazy injury that kept him from pursuing that dream) but anyway, when the scouts came, Trey would tend to get really nervous and of course, have that fear of messing up. It was during one of these times that a wise coach said to him:

“Trey, do not fear messing up. Fear not immediately jumping up!”

The coach went on to tell him that scouts watch to see the mess-ups so they can judge how quickly the players recover! “Everyone is going to miss the hit, but will you come back swinging stronger than last time? Every pitcher will walk a player, but will you come back and strike out the next one?” “Trey,” he said, “It’s not your perfection but your perseverance, your commitment, determination, and the love of what you’re doing that sets you apart!”

Friends, fearing messing up or missing the mark reveals your desire to serve your Lord with perfection. In your heart, you want to always win for Him. God knew we would struggle with this and therefore prepared us with Romans 3:23 NLT: Everyone has sinned … we all fall short of God’s glorious standards.

But here’s the rest of the story: Yet God, in His love … through His grace, freely makes up right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins.

When we “mess up” we must remember two things:

1) God doesn’t condemn us (Romans 8:1); He comes to our rescue (1 John 3:20). Even when our own hearts condemn us, He is bigger than our hearts.
2) Nor does He throw us out of the game (Romans 11:29). His gifts and His call are irrevocable.

Can I tell you a little mantra of mine that keeps me going because I certainly do mess up … a lot: When I mess up, I fess up, and I jump up and keep on going! And you must as well.

What God has called us to do is important, and He has given us dreams that will only be realized if we don’t give up (read Galatians 6:9).

Friends, listen to truth: Moses was a murderer. David was an adulterer. Rahab was a prostitute. Peter denied Christ. Paul watched as Stephen was stoned. And look how God used them in the lives of those around them.

As we conclude, I want to acknowledge that your battle to do what God is calling you to do can be fierce, but you must remember that the world is watching, including non-believers. They are not looking for perfect little Christians, but for real people who have messed up like they do … but who found a way to jump up and to stay in the game.

Let this be your hope. The Bible characters I mentioned were in battles as well, but it wasn’t their perfection that caused them to finish strong. It was their perseverance and their love for God that caused them to jump up and proclaim, “We’ve got this because God’s got us!”

Thank you for joining me for this series! It’s been an honor! Now, go … run … let these words strengthen your walk!

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