a view from the top…

Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
    may your love and faithfulness always protect me. -Psalm 40:11

A few years ago, there was a TV game show called “The Weakest Link.” The show originated in England and then followed up with an American version. The game began with a team of nine contestants, who would take turn answering general knowledge questions within a timeline to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then voted one contestant, “the weakest link”, out of the game. This continued until a final showdown between the last two players.

The reason I’m telling you this is that the line, “weakest link”, came to mind as I struggled to fall asleep at 2 a.m. When I was younger, it was easy to play the blame game. “I didn’t do this because ____________” or “I can’t do that because ____________”. But the older I get, I realize the demons I battle come from within me. There is no one to blame but myself. I am the weakest link.

I heard a quote recently that really hit home for me. Satan knows your name but calls you by your sin; God knows your sin but calls you by your name. So often, my mind focuses on my sins and I see myself through that sin. But that’s not what God calls us to do. God sees us as his children. Just as we don’t call our children, “Forgot to take out the garbage” or “Failed to turn in homework”, God doesn’t refer to us by our sin. To him, we are “beloved child.”

While I still have to work through those things that tempt me and trip me up daily, I don’t have to let them, or my failure define me. Every morning, as we begin to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, we pray, “Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.” And every evening when we begin, we pray, “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.” When we close our prayer times, we pray, “May God bless us, protect us from evil and bring us to everlasting life.” And then, we ask a particular saint to pray for us, such as, “St. Sebastian, pray for us.” Each day, we begin and end by inviting God to be a part of that day. You might say, we bookend our day by calling on Him.

While it’s easy to play the blame game or have a pity party, it’s more important to realize that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That’s why Jesus came; to reconcile us with the Father. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, we find not only forgiveness, but the strength to fight those temptations and to receive God’s grace when we fall.

The song, The Voice of Truth, by Casting Crowns, is one that touched me deeply years ago when it came out and it still does today. I’m including a link to the video and the words. If you haven’t heard it before, I invited you to read the lyrics and listen to the song. God is so much bigger than our faults…sometimes, we just need to change our viewpoint. Try to see yourself through God’s eyes…you’ll be amazed at the wonderful creation you truly are.