Life's "Do-Overs"

Yo Journal,

Good Morning.  The assigned reading for this devotional was Joel 2:12-27.  The devotional says:

To kids on a playground, the concept of a "do-over" is well known. When they're playing kickball and the ball gets stuck in a tree, or when they're playing basketball and the ball sticks between the backboard and the rim, a chorus of "do over" spontaneously erupts. It's an unspoken rule that every kid knows. Sometimes as adults we wish we could resurrect the rule in our own lives. When we miss a bill payment, we long to be able to appeal to the utility company for a "do-over." When we speak a thoughtless word that hurts another person, we wish for the same. Through the prophet Joel God tells the Israelites they can have a "do-over." If they'll repent God will return what he has taken away in punishment. Apparently a plague of locusts has destroyed the nation's crops, and God promises to give the people abundant harvests once again. So how can we make the reality of the "do-over" active in our life once again? Truth be told, this concept usually doesn't work in our adult lives and relationships without a good deal of work and humility on our part. We bear the consequences of our mistakes until regret grows and we ask for forgiveness. That's when grace can intervene, and the person we've harmed can forgive. The same is true in our relationship with God. If we understand that sin has kept us from realizing our potential, we need to do the same as the Israelites: repent. In this case, we don't really achieve the "do-over" ourselves; instead, we receive it from God. We simply turn to God with our confession. Many men find confession especially difficult because it cuts at our dignity and self-worth. When we confess we admit our mistakes and failures. We assume that these admissions don't make us look very good. However, God loves to see us confess and repent of our sin, because in doing so we show that we desire to turn to him. When we're "man enough" to confess our wrongs, God can choose to pour out his blessings for the next phase of our lives. To Take Away What areas of your life feel so damaged by sin that they require a fresh start? What do you hope your life will amount to? How does that mesh with God's plan for your life? Do you trust God enough to confess your mistakes and failures to him? Why or why not? How can you gain this kind of trust in God?

I want to answer these questions with you. 1) What areas of my life feel so damaged by sin that they require a fresh start?  My finances.  I am in such an unhealthy financial state right now.  Sin got me where I am now.  I didn't use my money to gamble, or to buy drugs, etc.  I just didn't honor God with my money.  I wasn't a good stewart.  I carelessly gave my money to others in an attempt to solve everyone else's problems, thereby creating a huge one for myself. 2) What do I hope my life will amount to?  How does that mesh with God's plan for my life?  To be honest, I am not really sure what I hope my life will amount to.  I want to be a great, godly husband and father.  I want to be a blessing to the preteens that God puts in my charge. I want to be and do whatever it is that God has called me to do.  So that meshes well, I would think, with God's plan for my life.  My struggle is that I'm not 100% sure what God's ultimate plan for my life is. 3) Do I trust God enough to confess my mistakes and failures to Him?  Why or Why not?  How can I gain this kind of trust in God?  Yes. I do trust God enough to confess my mistakes and failures to Him.  Admittedly, sometimes I am so disappointed in myself, I feel like I don't even deserve to go to God for forgiveness.  I feel like He just bailed me out of something and I'm back in it within a couple of months.  (I know that that is how Satan works, and that it's nothing new.)  But overall, my answer is yes, I do trust God enough to confess my mistakes to God.