Every day sin happens, failures occur. A very convicting verse in Scripture is Hebrews 4:13, "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." By thought or deed, the mishaps begin. The day continues, and though we do many things right, we miss opportunities to glorify Him, we allow ourselves to be distracted, we do things contrary to His Word. We continue throughout the day, then approach Him by the end of the day in a spirit of repentance, acknowledging our failures. We wake up the next day, and the cycle continues. Paul wrote in Romans 7:15,19, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I hate, that I do...For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." Paul concludes these thoughts in this section in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" He begins the next section in Romans with one of the most comforting verses in Scripture in Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

Paul had been waiting his whole life for an opportunity like this. He finally was able to take his stand and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ before the Jewish people in Jerusalem. He was prepared, he was correct in his theology, he was articulate in what he said. But rather than swaying the crowd, he found himself barely escaping with his life. His presentation resulted in a number of riots, he had to be rescued by the Roman authorities, and he finds himself back in prison. We must never forget that Paul, like us, was only human. His confidence level at this point must have been at an all time low. We have all been there before. Then we read Acts 23:11, "But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."" Just when we feel despair and failure, encouragement comes. In the very next section in Acts 23:12-22, we see a plot by a band of Jewish men who take a vow to neither drink nor eat until they have killed Paul. But unknowingly, Paul's nephew is within earshot and relays the information to the Roman commander. We know that nothing is by coincidence. We know that it wasn't just by chance that Paul's nephew just happened to be at the right place at the right time. When we are full of the Spirit, and faithful to God, we read in Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

If you light a match in a well lit room, it is easy to miss. But in a dark room, feeling isolated, it is much easier to see the light. We all spend time in that dark room. Though most of us are familiar with Jesus' Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, it is easy to forget the comforting words of Jesus, Himself in 28:20, "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." If it were not for His mercy and grace, we would be without hope. For when we glorify Him, He is there. When we fail, He is also right there to pick us back up and put us back on the right path. They key is to never stop abiding in Him throughout the day. Even if we start off great, being in His Word and prayer, we still need Him 2 hours later, 8 hours later, etc. May we find ways to surround ourselves with Him in our daily lives. Like Paul, who felt low, but was then picked up by Jesus, we too will feel low, and likewise have Jesus available and willing to comfort us, recharge us, and redirect us.