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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer, where we help you find the words you need to connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what is happening in your life today, you can trust that God wants to hear from you. Right after this short word from our sponsors, well pray God. Today's prayer when your reputation is damaged. A Prayer when your Reputation is damaged written by Peyton Garland, read by Carrie Eichberger. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us Tewod Corinthians four, verse seven. A few days ago I stuck my foot in my mouth, but not in a bad way. Rather, I was a bit more vulnerable with my mental health struggles, more vulnerable than I've ever been with someone outside by tight family. I've written articles, blog posts, and even books about the debilitating, villainous OCD monster that plagues my life, but never had I looked someone in the face in such an intimate setting and spilled the big heart embarrassing stuff. As soon as I confessed to my friend just how wild my OCD can be, I thought she will never think of me the same again. I've damaged my reputation, possibly ruined this friendship. Needless to say, my stomach was in not all day. I was nauseated by a situation or someone's perception rather that was now totally out of my hands. Then he recalled a video that I watched just that morning. The timing a bit uncanny if you ask me. Jackie Hill Perry, a Christian author, speaker, and influencer, recently shared that others have tried to make it seem that she supports Pride Month though she doesn't. Amid the online chaos that threatens to taint her image, she has made a life changing, convicting point for us all. Instead of defending your reputation, proclaimed the Gospel, our vulnerability, and the stage it can provide aren't about preserving our image or making a name for ourselves. It's all about allowing God to use whatever story he has written for us, plot, twists, and all for his resurrection power in order to change lives. If God uses sinners, he can use whatever awkward, scary, miserable situation we place ourselves in for his glory. He can use whatever unfair situation others place us in too. We are the actors and he is the director. He sees the whole stage and knows the audience far better than we ever will we enter and exit at his will, and at the final curtain call, we will point to him as the ultimate producer of all things magnificently beautiful and redemptive. At the end of the day, our reputations are far too fragile to sustain. If we chase such a goal, we idolize perfection. We become slaves to perception rather than practice. Then, tragically, our faith in God becomes faulty because it's not truly faith in Him. It's simply us playing the Christian game because it creates a nice narrative to shelter our name. This is why it's important to remember that God doesn't just use our moments of weakness. He uses us who we are in those moments, so He can transform our hearts and gift us with the testimony of his love. If I have learned one thing in life, it's that cracked vessels overflow much quicker than perfectly whole ones. It seems the more trials we endure, the quicker our imperfect hearts break. The sooner we are chipped and corcked and can spill over with God's goodness. Thus our weaknesses provide much more room for God's glory to overflow. As Scripture says, the knowledge and power displayed through impossible redemption are never ours. To boast about the goodness we create and the beauty we share. Our only gifts we've been given by the great Giver. No good thing is from us or through us, apart from Him. And honestly, that's such a relief when you're afraid and you've messed up too much, gone too far, or damage your reputation beyond repair. The power to sustain your reputation was never yours, and the ability to restore an impossible situation isn't yours. Though this might not sound like great news on the surface, it's far more than great news. It's freeing news. The pressure is off you to control everything better. Still, Jesus sustains all things, including your soul, not because of your performance, but because He is Goodness. He is sovereign and all powerful, and in these unlimited qualities he will see us into eternity, where perfect stories never end and cups overflow from whole healed vessels, Let's pray God. As humans, it's only natural that we long to maintain our reputations and control everything, long to appear as the very thing we can't be perfect. May we surrender this pride to you and trust that you are both sovereign and good. Grant us the courage to open our hands and allow our failures and weaknesses to play a redemptive part in this story you have written to heal mankind, restore the world with our humility and witness, Lord God, forever Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production of Life Audio and Sale Media. If you haven't already, be sure to follow the show in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. For more faithful and inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio dot com
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer, where we help you find the words you need to connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what is happening in your life today, you can trust that God wants to hear from you. Right after this short word from our sponsors, well pray God. Today's prayer when your reputation is damaged. A Prayer when your Reputation is damaged written by Peyton Garland, read by Carrie Eichberger. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us Tewod Corinthians four, verse seven. A few days ago I stuck my foot in my mouth, but not in a bad way. Rather, I was a bit more vulnerable with my mental health struggles, more vulnerable than I've ever been with someone outside by tight family. I've written articles, blog posts, and even books about the debilitating, villainous OCD monster that plagues my life, but never had I looked someone in the face in such an intimate setting and spilled the big heart embarrassing stuff. As soon as I confessed to my friend just how wild my OCD can be, I thought she will never think of me the same again. I've damaged my reputation, possibly ruined this friendship. Needless to say, my stomach was in not all day. I was nauseated by a situation or someone's perception rather that was now totally out of my hands. Then he recalled a video that I watched just that morning. The timing a bit uncanny if you ask me. Jackie Hill Perry, a Christian author, speaker, and influencer, recently shared that others have tried to make it seem that she supports Pride Month though she doesn't. Amid the online chaos that threatens to taint her image, she has made a life changing, convicting point for us all. Instead of defending your reputation, proclaimed the Gospel, our vulnerability, and the stage it can provide aren't about preserving our image or making a name for ourselves. It's all about allowing God to use whatever story he has written for us, plot, twists, and all for his resurrection power in order to change lives. If God uses sinners, he can use whatever awkward, scary, miserable situation we place ourselves in for his glory. He can use whatever unfair situation others place us in too. We are the actors and he is the director. He sees the whole stage and knows the audience far better than we ever will we enter and exit at his will, and at the final curtain call, we will point to him as the ultimate producer of all things magnificently beautiful and redemptive. At the end of the day, our reputations are far too fragile to sustain. If we chase such a goal, we idolize perfection. We become slaves to perception rather than practice. Then, tragically, our faith in God becomes faulty because it's not truly faith in Him. It's simply us playing the Christian game because it creates a nice narrative to shelter our name. This is why it's important to remember that God doesn't just use our moments of weakness. He uses us who we are in those moments, so He can transform our hearts and gift us with the testimony of his love. If I have learned one thing in life, it's that cracked vessels overflow much quicker than perfectly whole ones. It seems the more trials we endure, the quicker our imperfect hearts break. The sooner we are chipped and corcked and can spill over with God's goodness. Thus our weaknesses provide much more room for God's glory to overflow. As Scripture says, the knowledge and power displayed through impossible redemption are never ours. To boast about the goodness we create and the beauty we share. Our only gifts we've been given by the great Giver. No good thing is from us or through us, apart from Him. And honestly, that's such a relief when you're afraid and you've messed up too much, gone too far, or damage your reputation beyond repair. The power to sustain your reputation was never yours, and the ability to restore an impossible situation isn't yours. Though this might not sound like great news on the surface, it's far more than great news. It's freeing news. The pressure is off you to control everything better. Still, Jesus sustains all things, including your soul, not because of your performance, but because He is Goodness. He is sovereign and all powerful, and in these unlimited qualities he will see us into eternity, where perfect stories never end and cups overflow from whole healed vessels, Let's pray God. As humans, it's only natural that we long to maintain our reputations and control everything, long to appear as the very thing we can't be perfect. May we surrender this pride to you and trust that you are both sovereign and good. Grant us the courage to open our hands and allow our failures and weaknesses to play a redemptive part in this story you have written to heal mankind, restore the world with our humility and witness, Lord God, forever Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production of Life Audio and Sale Media. If you haven't already, be sure to follow the show in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. For more faithful and inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio dot com
