A friend of mine told me her son just cannot take tests. He excels in his classwork, but when it comes to test-taking, his mind goes blank and he fails. This is the reason he is doing so poorly in his classes. Medical testing did not reveal any diagnosable reason for the disconnect.

Somewhere along the line, her son decided to believe this lie. Over the years, defeat became etched into his mind like a river carves itself through a mountain base. Deeper and deeper it flows. Then it became a bonafide reality gripping itself to his leg like a ball and chain, and eventually, an excuse to fail.

Excuses in our lives give us permission to settle for less than God’s best and justify our shortcomings. We blame something or someone else for our less-than-stellar lot in life. It is never our fault. We brand our insecurities8. We declare this is how it always is for us, for our families. We inhale the status quo and exhale the mundane.

Most failures come from a history of excuses and a lack of perseverance.
Closed doors don’t always mean NO. Most of the time they mean that God has a bigger and better door. We must move forward and keep knocking. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 ESV)

We get so immersed in the past we can’t see hope staring at us through the dirty windows of our own self-appointed limitations. We construct imaginary walls and confine ourselves. We can get so stuck in the rut of excuses we even make excuses for our excuses. The Bible is littered with excuse-makers, starting off with Eve claiming it was all the serpent’s fault for deceiving her.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13 ESV) God is saying enough! It’s time to receive the victory God has in store for us. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength! He can give us supernatural qualifications. He can cause us to be at the right place at the right time. Trust the Word of God and the plans He has for our lives! God’s plan says He will give us a new hope and a bright future. Success will ultimately come to us when our dreams become bigger than our excuses.

Through Christ, we are made new and whole in every area of our lives. We must stop excusing away our dreams. Instead, grab hold of them. Start speaking life into our lives. Let the promises of God settle in our hearts, declare these truths, and let them override our regrets and rationalizations.
When we give up our excuses we will find our results.

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:4-8 ESV)

Copyright © 2015 by Nina Keegan. Used by permission.

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