January 16
Guarding
Against Despair
“Keep me from committing sins I want to commit. Don’t let them rule over me. Then I will be blameless. I will not be guilty of any great sin.”
Psalm 19:13 (NIrV)
Ethan sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the letter in his hands. The bold, unforgiving words—“Exam Results: Failed”—felt like a heavy weight pressing down on his chest. He had worked so hard, but now, all he could see was a future slipping through his fingers. His dreams of college, a career, and making his family proud seemed impossibly far away.
For weeks, Ethan avoided his friends and ignored messages from his teachers. At home, he felt the silent disappointment of his parents, though they never said a word. “What’s the point of trying again?” he thought bitterly. His frustration boiled into anger at himself and at God.
One evening, unable to sleep, Ethan scrolled through social media. A post from an old friend caught his eye: “Even in failure, God’s grace is enough.” The words tugged at something deep inside him. Ethan sighed and whispered, “God, if You’re really there, I need help. I feel like I’m drowning.”
The next day, he opened his Bible, something he hadn’t done in months. His eyes fell on Psalm 19:13. “Keep me from committing sins I want to commit. Don’t let them rule over me.” He realized that his anger and despair were taking over, clouding his vision of what God might still have planned for him.
Ethan decided to take a small step forward. He reached out to a teacher who had always encouraged him and confessed his struggles. To his surprise, the teacher didn’t lecture him but offered to help him make a plan. “Failure doesn’t define you,” she said. “It’s what you do next that matters.”
Through prayer, honest conversations, and leaning on God’s Word, Ethan began to see his failure as an opportunity for growth. He didn’t have all the answers yet, but he was learning to trust that God’s grace could guide him, even when life felt uncertain.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank You for Your grace, which is greater than any failure we face.
Help us, like Ethan, to surrender our anger, frustration, and despair to You.
Keep us from being ruled by emotions or sins that try to take over our hearts.
Remind us that our worth is found in You, not in our successes or failures.
Lead us to trust Your plan, even when we can’t see the way forward.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
