DAILY DEVOTIONS with MICHELE

God does not want you on the performance treadmill. He wants you to feel good about yourself whether you perform perfectly or not. He doesn’t want you to be filled with pride, but He certainly did not create you to reject yourself.

The psalmist David confessed that he was a work of God and that God’s work is indeed wonderful. Most of us would cringe at the thought of confessing that we are wonderful, but we need to accept and love ourselves as God’s creation and children.

Doing what one believes to be right will always increase confidence. You can't go wrong when you keep God as the focus of your life. Follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman. She gives us tremendous insight in how to be the best and most confident homemaker, wife, and mother we can be.

James teaches us that we can rejoice when we find ourselves caught up in difficult situations, knowing that God is trying our faith to bring out patience.  Patience is a tough one, we like things now, we like answers now, we like resolution...now!

Ask God to help you have a healthy and proper balance of work and rest. Take time to accomplish the tasks before you but be sure to seize your opportunities to be at peace and enjoy rest. Both are important. Balance is the key!

On difficult days it is helpful to be reminded to persevere in order to fulfill the call of God on our lives. On those days when you feel like giving up, just remember that God has given you the power to hold on!

God's Word encourages us to have an active faith, and by doing so we shut the door to laziness, procrastination, and passivity. You are more powerful than you may realize. God has given you free will, and that means you can decide to act on, think, and speak what is right, and nothing can stop you.

When I was young, I viewed success much differently than I do today. Age and experience, highs and lows, certainly give us perspective. Our ultimate success and value in life is not found in climbing what the world calls the ladder of success. Our success is not in a job promotion, a bigger house, a better-looking car, or elite social circles.

We all want to succeed in life. No one sets out to fail or wants to fail. But I do believe failure can be an important steppingstone on the way to success. Failure certainly teaches us what not to do, which is often as important as knowing what we are to do! Failure is all about how we look at it.