Recalibrate: Part 5- Embrace Grace
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Recalibrate: Part 5- Embrace Grace
A devotional series about reviving your heart, renewing your mind, and restoring your soul
Can you believe we're already two-thirds into 2023? How are you doing with your New Year's resolution? Let's be honest, it's easy to fall short of our goals when they're not realistic or manageable. Speaking of goals, have you been able to fulfill the assignments that God has called you to? Remember, if God has given you a gift and an assignment, He has also given you everything you need to accomplish it. However, maintaining your commitment can be challenging at times. You may have heard negative thoughts in your head when things get tough and don't go according to plan. But remember to not give up and instead recalibrate, listen to the Spirit, and embrace grace.
In November 2020, I set a goal to produce an audiobook of my book, Kill the Busy, Save the Bee: What It Really Means to Be Still and Know. I knew I had much to learn about audio editing, equipment, and technology, but I also knew that I had a great voice for it, and my husband was willing to help me. I wanted to have it ready and displayed on Amazon by the new year, 2021. We were both very optimistic.
With all this optimism, I set up my closet, printed out my script (chapters), and installed my microphone and software. From the very beginning of the process, I felt like I failed every single solitary day. I was such a disappointment to myself. All I could see were the mistakes I kept making and the deadline that kept creeping. I beat myself up for not working hard enough or not understanding the steps. The negative self-talk filled my mind, and I focused on it constantly. I couldn’t enjoy the journey because all I could see was how slow I was and how terrible my voice sounded, and how many mistakes I kept making. I thought I was failing in the areas of motivation, learning technology, reading the script, editing, etc., but I wasn’t failing, I was actually winning.
I asked myself, "Do I want to impress people or do I want to help people?" After some contemplation, I realized that I wanted to help people. This was affirmed by the Holy Spirit when I sought His guidance. I took some time to draw closer to Him and read His Word, which helped me regain my focus. I made a conscious effort to silence my critical voice and instead, spoke words of encouragement. I began patting myself on the back and recognizing how much progress I had made! I thought to myself, "Yvonne, you've recorded five chapters. You're almost halfway there!" Instead of operating within the busyness of perfectionism, I started operating in the power of God's grace. If I started obsessing over a section that wasn't "perfect,” I’d say to myself, "That's good enough."
Let me explain the sentence, "That's good enough.” It doesn’t mean that I decided to slack. It was a way of training my mind to extend grace. Each time I would record a paragraph or a chapter, I had to draw a line after a certain number of takes because I would ALWAYS find something wrong with it. Speaking out loud, “That’s good enough,” gave me permission to move forward with the understanding that I had done the best I could with what I had.
It reminds me of 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says, “But (the Lord) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” In this scripture, Paul explains how our humanness leaves room to boast, not about ourselves, but about God’s greatness. When we look at our mistakes, we recognize God’s grace. His grace to pick us up when we fall down, His grace to encourage us, His grace to love us no matter how deeply we fall into sin, His grace to see the best in us and forgive us when we fall short.
Now, when people listen to my audiobook, they don’t come back to me citing all the errors that I heard while I was recording; they glorify God because what they’ve heard has encouraged them! When Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you,” I take that to mean He provides enough grace to do exactly what He’s called me to do.
So as you set out to accomplish what God has for you, remember:
Celebrate your progress, no matter how small.
That's good enough!
Give yourself some grace.
Turn on your encouragement voice.
Yvonne Marie, M.Ed. is the author of Kill the Busy Save the Bee: What It Really Means to Be Still and Know and Write For Christ Sake: A Guide to Kick-Start Your Book Journey for Jesus. She is the owner of Your Book Journey Consulting, LLC, a thriving business on a mission to help writers, speakers, ministry leaders, and business owners write and publish books. With a master’s degree in education and over two decades of teaching and ministry experience, she has developed the ability to effectively educate, motivate, and inspire others through her gifts of writing, speaking, and teaching. Yvonne Marie is married to Jonathan, owner of I-Witness Photography, LLC, and they have two sons. You can find her at yvonnemariespeaks.com.