He never failed me yet.

In high school choir, we sang this gospel song called, "He never failed me yet." I was getting into/being a newish Christian and was just learning the song because it was what our director picked out. I didn't think too much about the words or what I was actually saying. I was more concerned about pitch and staccato notes and such.

It's so strange the things we remember. I find myself singing this song all the time. The truth about this song is that it is truth. The words to the chorus of the song are as follows:

"I will sing of God's mercy, every day, every hour, He gives me power.
I will sing, and give thanks to thee for all the dangers, toils, and snares that He has brought me out.
He is my God and I'll serve Him. No matter what the test.
Trust and never doubt, Jesus will surely bring you out. He never failed me yet."

How real those lyrics are to me now. How real my God has been. How good He has been and how He has NEVER failed me. How often I fail Him! (and how thankful I am for grace!)

School started back two weeks ago and boy, has it been crazy, weird, busy, fun, annoying, all the usual adjectives that work with middle schoolers. I felt so rested coming in to the school year from a fantastic and semi-lazy summer that was definitely needed in my life. Already, in the first two weeks, there have been a few students who have latched on for whatever reason. I so adore some of them and some of the others already know what drives me crazy (not exactly the wisdom in me that reveals this). I always have this great fear of not connecting with my students, if I missed Jesus telling me to go somewhere else, if my stubbornness caused me to stay, if my unwillingness to change led me down a path that I was not to go. Especially yesterday... as I prayer walked with a group of people around the neighborhood of my school to see the true conditions my students live and breathe in.

The devil is a liar and he will lie for as long as we let Him. While I'm praying wondering why in the world God chose me for another year at Mack, the devil whispers all of my inadequacies, how many students I've missed, my deepest insecurities, my darkest secrets... every single thing he can use as ammunition against me. God's softest whisper is louder than the devil's lies... "You're here for them..." and He would bring a face to my mind and another and another and remind me of what I already know about their life situations and their need for help and ultimately, their need to be loved by a Savior and the place Jesus has given me to love them for a short period in their life. Satan seems powerful to us, but he has been overcome by Jesus and yet, we walk in defeat, acting as if we have been failed.

He hasn't failed us. Just as He calls me to walk back into Mack tomorrow and live on the front lines of the devil's waging war, He has called you to walk knowing that His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is never changing. He never fails us. May that be the song of your heart. -Melis