Do you ever feel discouraged or disappointed at your inability to maintain any degree of consistency in your pursuit of purity? In my own walk I wrestled for so long with my repetitive sin. For a long time I was frustrated by the cycle of sin, repent, repeat. I simply could not understand why I would keep drinking from the same trough that was full of such filthy water? I was listening to the wrong voice and so many of us do and have done for so long.
I am a father and my youngest son has what could be described as, anger management issues. He is smart and reasons with me in a way that exasperates me at times. When he was 4, after a particularly bad falling out, we went to the park for a serious talk while I pushed him on the swings. He surprised me by the depth of his understanding of what was going on inside him. He explained his frustration at his own inability to control what he described as ‘the darkness’ that would overcome him at times.
He is now almost 10 and still battles with ‘the darkness’. But over the years we have continued to dialogue, analyze and develop strategies to tackle this side of his personality. He has good days and bad days but he hasn’t given up battling. As his father I look on filled with love for him. I am proud of the progress he is making and I will never stop encouraging him.
Likewise, our Father in heaven is overjoyed by our desire to be more like His Son. He knows it is a lifelong pursuit, a process and He wants to guide and encourage us every step of the way. When we mess up He is disappointed for us, not in us. God grieves as we sin. He is saddened by the impact this will have in our lives – but that grieving is grounded in His love, which is unchanging.
End of article.