How The Holy Spirit Helps Us Use Let Downs For Our Advantage

1. The Holy Spirit assures us of God’s abilities to work everything together for good as long as we love God and obey His will. Paul wrote, "We are assured and know that God being a partner in our labors works together all things to fit into His plans for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose." (Rom. 8:28 - Amplified) Trust the Holy Spirit to help you believe God for the many ways that He will work all let downs together, with other factors, for your best interests.

2. The Holy Spirit uses failures in our life to teach us greater humility, Godliness and wisdom. David wrote, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All who follow His precepts have good understanding. (Psa. 111:10) Ask the Lord to help you grow in humility, Godliness and wisdom as a result of every large and small failure in your experiences.

3. The Holy Spirit uses let downs to teach us the weakness and folly of trying to trust in our own strength. Solomon wrote, "Do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." (Prov. 3:6) Ask the Lord to help you to learn how futile it is to try to rely on your own strength, wisdom and abilities.

4. The Holy Spirit uses failures to show us how unprofitable it is to trust in people instead of God. Jeremiah wrote, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." (Jer. 17:5,6) Ask the Lord to use your failures to teach you how unsatisfying it is to trust in people instead of the Lord.

5. The Holy Spirit teaches us from our failures how to be able to pick and choose our battles more carefully. We all learn that some battles are not worth fighting. Solomon wrote, "A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. By humility and the fear of the Lord come wealth, honor and life." (Prov. 22:3,4) Ask the Lord to help you to learn which battles are just not worth fighting so you can save yourself from wasted efforts.

6. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to plan, implement, and evaluate our ministries more effectively as a result of experiencing failure. The writer of Hebrews wrote, "But solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their sense trained to discern good and evil." (Heb. 5:14) Ask the Lord to help you grow cognitively, affectively, spiritually, organizationally & skillfully as a result of learning from mistakes.

7. The Holy Spirit uses all kinds of failure to teach you how to be more circumspect in your speech, conduct and relationships. Paul wrote, "Be careful how you live (circumspectly), not as unwise but as wise. Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Eph. 5:15-17) Ask the Lord to help you to learn from your own mistakes and those of others so that you do not have to repeatedly stumble over the mistakes of the past.

8. The Holy Spirit uses failure to teach us how to be more flexible, adaptable, and pliable. Paul wrote, "I know how to be abased and live humbly in every circumstance. I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power."(Phil. 4:12,13) Ask the Lord to help you, like Paul, to learn how to be more flexible, adaptable, & pliable in setbacks.

9. The Holy Spirit uses unfulfilling experiences to teach you how to better prepare yourself for future stormy situations. Solomon wrote, "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." (Prov. 21:5) Ask God to use letdowns to help you to learn how to prepare for future stormy situations.

10. The Holy Spirit uses disappointments to help you to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. Many discouragements help us to recognize some of the blind spots in our life and ministry that are so frustrating to the people around us. Perhaps there are some sins of omission, wrong disposition or proud assumptions that you have about yourself that need spiritual surgery. Ask the Lord and others for great patience, forgiveness and understanding as you learn how to grow up in ALL aspects into Christ as a result of learning lessons from setbacks. Jesus warned the invalid of thirty-eight years after healing him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:14) Ask the Lord to help you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so as to avoid experiencing worse failures and their consequences. (2 Pet. 3:18)