“When my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalms 61:2)

If you’re like most saints, you’ve at times felt as if everything was spinning out of control. This happens when people you depend on, let you down. It’s even worse, when you discover your own failings. You tell a lie, and wonder, “why did I do that?” Someone tells a dirty joke and you laugh, and think later, what must those people think of me? Discoveries of inward corruption should grieve us more than when people let us down.

When this happens, don’t make excuses or despair…go immediately to God to restore your relationship. Read the Psalms and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your understanding of what went wrong. As you read, the Holy Spirit can quicken a passage that applies to your failing. You may have to read for an hour or more. “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

When you know how to repent, do so. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

And then, rededicate your life: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1–2).

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