My son fell down and scraped his nose this week.

This is in the wake of him tripping over my boot and chipping his front teeth at the grocery store the week before.

If what ‘they’ say about boys is true, my son is certainly beginning to fit the stereotype. He is playful; he is active; and life is shaping up to be one scrape after another.

The thing is, as heartbreaking as every abrasion is for this sensitive mom, I understand exactly why he does the things that he does.

I understand because in the not too distant past, I acquired my own fair share of bumps and bruises along the life I had chosen for myself; and unlike my toddler son, I knew better.

This month, I got the opportunity to read through Max Lucado’s Glory Days. And honestly, I was blown away. I started highlighting on the first page and didn’t stop until the very end. My first highlight was Lucado’s description of our “promised land;” or glory days:

“Our promised land isn’t a physical territory; it is a spiritual reality. It’s not real estate but a real state of the heart and mind.

A Promised Land life in which ‘we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us” (Rom 8:37)

…a life where ‘we do not lose heart’…’Christ’s love has the first and last word in everything that we do’…we are ‘exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation’…’we are anxious for nothing’…’praying always’…’we do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through him.”

These are not the glory days without a few scrapes, chips, and bruises. These are not glory days promised to us by the worthy men and women in the bible. No, it’s much better than that . These are Glory Days fulfilled by the failures that God chose to showcase his power. Lucado writes,

“[God’s] book is written for failures. It is full of folks who were foul-ups and flops…perfect people? No. Perfect messes? You bet. Yet God used them. A surprising and welcome discovery of the Bible is this: God uses failures.”

This struck a major chord with me. In my return to Jesus, I found freedom in the fact that He chose the morally corrupt; the womanizers; the harlots; the broken; and the blasphemous. I had failed…in more ways than one. And God still wanted to fulfill his purpose through me.

There is nothing more glorious than that. So with my own metaphorical chipped teeth and scraped nose, I began to read my Bible and believe it. I was beginning to see, as Lucado suggests, the “transaction had already happened;” just as the land Joshua was attempting to conquer was already his. He simply had to listen and heed the word of the one who purchased the land for him.

Unlike popular prosperity messages promising financial glory or even tap into the God within us (and I don’t think he’s talking about the holy spirit…) Lucado’s Glory Days follows Joshua as a leader, and more accessibly, as a human. This book is full of truth and scripture and theology to really get you to stop and think about the type of Christian you want to be…not for your treasures on earth, but for God’s glory. He implores his audience to:

“Choose obedience. And as you do, you can expect blessings: the blessing of a clean conscience, the blessing of a good night’s sleep, the blessing of God’s fellowship, the blessing of God’s favor. This is no guarantee of an easy life. It is the assurance of God’s help. “The good man does not escape all troubles–he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one (Ps 34:19).”

God has chosen all of us–scraped noses, chipped teeth and all–to be in relationship with him. He has promised us that better days are ahead, if we believe and obey his word.

This book is a must read. For all of us; new and seasoned Christians alike. It follows the story of Joshua, with all his faults and failures, and how the promises of God remained steadfast. It is an important reminder that God is good, no matter the circumstances.

Purchase here for only $19.99.