I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to _______ (insert your name); (your name) will blossom like a lily (Hosea 14:4-5).

I once heard a speaker ask what we thought God expected of us. Mentally I answered, “Righteousness, holiness, love for God and my neighbor.” He repeated his question, so I continued my list, “Bible reading, prayer, obedience, service.” But then he stated, to my stunned amazement, “All God ever expects of you is failure.”

I had to resist the temptation to raise my hand, wave it wildly, and exclaim, “I can do that! I can live up to God’s expectations! I know I can fail!” But before I could blurt it out, the speaker said, “But He has given you the Holy Spirit so that you need never fail.”

When a new year begins, have you stopped making resolutions because of repeated failure to keep the old ones? Do your past failures discourage you in the present and paralyze you for the future? Then join me in praising the God who expects us in our flesh to fail, but who is also the God of the second chance!