Live In Peace: The Emotional Blessing of Sadness

I started a new devotional yesterday on the YouVersion Bible App (which is an awesome way to get some word in your system, btw!). The title of this devotion is "Working Through Failure," and if you know anything about me or my life for the last 3 years, you know this is something I've been struggling with in every aspect of my life.

I've realized that failure has found me in a few different areas:

Anxiety: I get easily overwhelmed in the middle of unknown circumstances (I almost lost it on my entire family recently on vacation when we couldn't figure out how to use the Panama City metro cards).
Self-Esteem: I learned about the term "impostor syndrome", which is basically a feeling that I'm not good enough to be where I am, especially as it relates to a professional setting.
Lack of Trust: My trust in people took a big hit over the past few years due to falling out with certain friends in ways that damaged how I relate to people, and has hurt my current relationships with others.

So today's devotional really spoke to me, saying:

"Feeling sadness is uncomfortable. Without the emotional blessing of sadness, however, we would probably never muster the guts to admit our mistakes."

For the first time, I feel like my eyes have been opened to seeing failure and sadness as a blessing. This has connected me even more deeply with Matthew 5:4, where Jesus says:

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

There is healing in admitting our mistakes. I've shared 3 of my own areas in which I have struggled to succeed (trust me there's a few others). As I pray for these countries and territories today, I pray for you, for their leaders, and for their people, that we would begin to recognize the blessing in our failure and in grieving our failures in a way that allows God to step in, help us get back on track, and grow in love, faith, and respect for others.

Click on the flag/photo to learn more about each location!