Lord, help me to get this right!

During the last event I spoke at I told a story of a man who was losing his young wife to cancer.  In the days leading up to her death, he recited a simple prayer.  He prayed, “Lord, help me to get this right.”

You see, as a young man himself, and as a newly appointed youth pastor at his church, he understood deeply, that he had a choice in the midst of his most challenging circumstance yet.  And that was how he behaved in the most difficult of days.  Knowing that others would be watching him and desperately searching for a pattern of conduct to emulate, he intensely looked to the Lord for guidance as if to say, “Help me to represent You well.”

I cannot tell you the number of times I have thought about this man and his bravery to pray a hard prayer.  Because as a believer of Jesus, my chief concern is proper representation of my faith and my God.  And I find myself relying on His strength more and more….

When I am frustrated at the driver who cut me off… Lord, help me to get this right.
When I harbor resentment towards someone who has hurt me… Lord, help me to get this right.
When I didn’t get my way… Lord, help me to get this right.
When they hurt my child… Lord, help me to get this right.
When I am wrongfully accused… Lord, help me to get this right.

Every day we have a choice.

And the truth is that we have NO strength of our own.  That’s why we need Him.

The bible tells us that we grieve the Holy Spirit when we behave in a way that is contradicting to the character of the God we serve.  There is no place for anger.  There is no place for entitlement.  There is no place for revenge.

And so we can save ourselves a world of pain by applying this simple thought process to our own lives: Lord, help me to get this right.

Often times we get one shot!