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Last Thursday we had our first in-person prayer meeting since the COVID protocols on crowds was lifted. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with singing, testimonies, prayer, and listening to Gods Word being taught.

I was still on a high from Thursday over the weekend, and excitedly looked forward to the Church on Sunday…..

And then Sunday came

Sunday morning was one of those services that didn’t seem to go well at all:

1. Very little energy
2. My sermon didn’t go well ¹
3. And it seemed as if a lot of people were discouraged
   

the truth is, there’s going to be both good and bad services. You’re not going to have fantastic ones all of the time. But it can still be discouraging when that happens.

Having a bad service, or “dropping the ball” as I call it, will bring discouragement. The important thing is moving past the discouragement of that moment, and using it as a learning experience

In my earlier years dropping the ball would lead to a huge pity-party ². While this did make me feel better in a selfish way, indulging in self-pity did nothing to actually fix the problem that created my bad experience in the first place.

Its better to let the sorrow or frustration of that moment lead to evaluation

1. Where did I go wrong?
2. Is there any sin that I have not confessed?
3. How an I do better in the future?
   

The thing about this kind of evaluation is it really hurts sometimes. You uncover weaknesses or sinful habits that you would rather overlook. But its only after getting to the bottom of why the problem occurred, and finding a way to fix it , that true growth can come.

Self-pity does make me feel better in the moment, but it does nothing to stop the problem itself, I’d just be setting myself up for a cycle of failure.

After a post-service nap and some extra coffee the Lord helped me take a long hard look at why my message went so poorly that morning. By His grace, that uncomfortable experience led to my doing a much better job Sunday night.

We are guaranteed to drop the ball from time to time

Its what we do after dropping the ball that defines us

1. I’m reminded of Dr. Martin Loyd Jones who says that sermons are like horses. Every once in a while one bucks you off ↩
2. Ridiculous amounts of junk food and television ↩