I’ll be honest with you…I haven’t been the person God has wanted me to be lately. I’ve been falling to temptations, slacking on my prayer life, and putting the focus on myself. I feel like I do this every once in a while. It’s like I’m super on top of the game and have a full-blown servant’s heart for a little bit, but then all of a sudden a switch flips and I turn into a person who's only living for myself.

Does this sound like you?

Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you’re really good at living your life with purpose all the time. Maybe you don’t hit these highs and lows that I’m talking about. But if you think that’s you, I have a feeling you're not being completely honest with yourself.

If you recognize that what I described does sound like you, I’m sorry. It’s a struggle. It’s a struggle knowing deep down that God has a better path planned for you, but at the same time having a hard time getting to where you know you need to be.

Unfortunately, I can't offer you some sort of quick and easy 3-step magical solution that will guarantee you no more suffering for as long as you live.

Of course, though, the best thing for you to do is pray about whatever you’re struggling with. Jesus is there to walk you through it. But that’s the thing—Jesus walks with you. He makes things so much easier, but when you ask Him for help, it’s not like He just hops inside your body and takes over your decision-making process. It all boils down to how well you respond to the help He’s trying to give you.

That’s the part I always mess up. It’s like I can feel God fighting off Satan for me, but somehow I end up turning away from Him and making the wrong decision instead. I forget that even though God is showing me a way out, it’s still up to me to choose to follow Him.

We all mess up. None of us will ever know what it feels like to be perfect. At one point or another, you’ll get stuck in a rut and feel like you’ve gone so far down the wrong path that there’s no way you can ever get back to where you’re supposed to be.

But the good news is that our God is a God of Great Mercy. He understands that we mess up. He hates sin, but it doesn’t make Him love us any less. It’s a hard concept for us humans to wrap our small minds around since we tend to hold grudges against each other, but thankfully God isn’t human.

So basically, if you're feeling that same disappointment in yourself that I'm feeling, please know that God still loves you, and His love is always enough to get you back on track. You just have to accept His offer.